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(POV Alya)
Alya heads to school after making sure that her sisters safely got to school. She jogs in and slows down as she gets closer to the classroom. She walks in and smiles at Nino, who returns the gesture immediately. She sits down and waits for Marinette to come in. She’s usually late, so Alya doesn’t even expect her to be on time anymore. In “speak of the devil and he shall appear” fashion, Adrien and Marinette walk in together in awkward silence.
“Oh come on,” Nino says. “Can we just admit that we love each other and move on?”
Both start stumbling over their words as they try to tell Nino that he’s wrong. Alya spends a moment laughing before dragging Marinette up to her seat.
“What happened, girl?” Alya asks.
“We… We bumped heads, and then fell. He tried to help me up and I ended up falling again, taking him with me. He managed to catch himself so he didn’t fall on me, but he was hovering right above me. I could feel his breath.”
“Did you ask him out then?”
“Why would I do that?” Marinette hisses.
“Because that would have been a great moment to do it. Heat of the moment.”
Marinette puts her head on the desk and Alya looks up long enough to see Adrien looking at Marinette before he notices Alya watching him. He moves his gaze from Marinette to the board in a second. Alya smiles wickedly and turns to tell Marinette that Adrien was staring at her, but Miss Bustier comes in and starts the lesson, so Alya doesn’t have more time to mess with Marinette. Once class is over, Marinette starts grabbing her things, making sure that she has everything in her bag before looking up at Alya.
“Hey, do you have time to come over and study together after school?” she asks.
“Can’t, I’ll be busy tonight,” Alya answers.
“You seem to be busy a lot lately. What have you been up to?” Marinette asks, “If you don’t mind me asking.”
(POV Nino)
Nino walks into class to find that he’s one of the first there. He looks at his watch and realizes that he’s really early for class. He sighs and leans his head back, closing his eyes. He feels himself start to doze off but he doesn’t resist it. Adrien will wake him if he’s not awake by the time the lesson is about to start.
“Are you okay, Nino?”
It takes a moment for him to process that someone said his name, but he cracks his eyes open once he does. Alix is standing in front of him with a look of concern etching her features.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just didn’t get much sleep.”
Alix nods, then heads to her seat. He has time to straighten up and wake up a bit before Alya walks in and smiles at him. He smiles back at her before returning his attention to the door.
Adrien’s normally late, but cutting it this close isn’t normal for him. I wonder if his dad’s keeping him home.
He sighs at the thought. Adrien and Marinette come in together in awkward silence. Nino notices the two and can’t help but crack a joke because of how awkward they look.
“Oh come on,” Nino says. “Can we just admit that we love each other and move on?”
Both start stumbling over their words as they try to tell him he’s wrong. Alya spends a moment laughing before dragging Marinette up to her seat while Adrien sits down next to Nino, clearly trying to come up with a proper comeback. Nino leans over so only Adrien can hear him.
“Dude, you clearly have a crush on Marinette,” Nino says.
“ I do not ,” Adrien replies. “She’s just a friend.”
“ Yeah .”
“What about you and Alya?” Adrien asks, turning the situation back on Nino.
Nino glances up at Alya, whose attention is on Marinette.
“Alya and I are good friends, but I don’t think that I like her like that. And anyway, I don’t have time for romance,” Nino answers.
“Don’t have time? What are you so busy doing that you can’t pursue someone?”
(Two Weeks Earlier)
(Alya POV)
Alya opens the box with an intricate red design on the top that she definitely didn’t put in her bag where she found it, and a black ball of fur zooms out. A furball that immediately tries to eat her bedpost. Alya drops the box.
“What are you?” she asks.
“I’m Plagg,” he says, “Is that edible?”
He bites one of the shelves of her bookcase, then gags. “Nope, not edible.”
“Would you stop that?” Alya demands. “I have food if you really want it, but what the heck is happening?”
“You’ve been chosen to be the holder of the Cat Miraculous, which is me. It gives you the power of destruction. Now where’s the food?”
Alya stares at the furball, which does look strikingly like a cat, in pure amazement.
“Wait, you’re telling me that I can be a superhero?” Alya asks, her voice rising an octave as her excitement peaks.
“Yeah, I did say that. Food first,” Plagg answers.
“What do you eat?”
“Cheese. Camembert to be more specific.”
“That’s gonna take a toll on my allowance.”
“That’s the only thing that I’ll eat,” Plagg says, folding his little arms and trying to look like he won’t take no for an answer.
“Okay,” Alya says, then picks up the box with the ring in it. She puts the ring on and examines it closely. It changes to a nice gold color and fits perfectly on her finger. “This is pretty,” she mumbles.
Loud thumps shake her room, leading her to crane her neck so she can see a stone monster over by the football stadium.
“What’s the phrase to superhero up?” Alya asks.
“Claws out. Claws in is how you detransform, but we still have stuff to go over.”
“Claws out!” Alya says, clearly ignoring Plagg’s warning.
(Nino POV)
Nino throws a book at the creature that flew out of the box that he found in his bag.
“Please, let me explain,” it squeaks.
Nino throws another book, then finds out he doesn’t have any more ammunition since all of his school books are on the other side of the room.
“Please let me explain, Nino.”
“How do you know my name? And what are you?”
“I’m Tikki, and I’m a Kwami. You’ve been chosen to become the wielder of the Miraculous of Creation.”
“I must be high,” Nino says, sitting down and leaning back on the palms of his hands.
“Do you get high normally?” Tikki asks, flying closer to him.
“Only when my mom smokes stuff in the house, then I generally get second-hand high. It’s not that often though and I didn’t smell anything, but that doesn’t make it impossible.”
“Well, I’m not a hallucination. I’m real.”
Nino reaches out a hand and strokes Tikki’s head. She nuzzles up to his hand and he smiles.
“Okay, you were saying something about creation?” Nino asks.
“You have been chosen to become the wielder of the Miraculous of Creation,” Tikki says, grabbing the box with the earrings and putting it in Nino’s lap.
Nino looks at the earrings, then puts them on.
“That’s step one,” Tikki says. “We should walk through the rest before you try anything else.”
A crash can be heard and Nino looks out the window, seeing a stone figure storming across the street towards the football stadium.
“Alright, we need to stop Stoneheart now,” Tikki says.
“Go stop that thing? I don’t even know the basics.”
“I’ll explain them, but I’m going to do it quickly so we can go.”
(Alya POV)
“I think I’m starting to get the hang of this,” Alya says as she walks along her staff, which is stuck between two buildings.
She hears someone screaming, so she looks in the direction. She looks just fast enough to see a guy hurtling at her. Due to the string of whatever he has, the two are pressed up and tied together.
“Nice of you to drop in,” she teases.
“Sorry, I really didn’t mean to. I’m still getting used to the whole… yo-yo thing,” he replies.
She notices that he’s in a red suit with black polka-dots, a hood covering most of his face, but she notices that he has goggles on. Black tinged goggles from what she can tell. The string loosens and she’s able to drop down.
“I bet you’re the partner my Kwami told me about. I’m…” She realizes that she hasn’t thought of a name and mentally slaps herself.
You’re supposed to come up with this stuff ahead of time, so somebody doesn’t name you and you’re left with something terrible. Black cat names…
“I’m Jynx,” she blurts out. “Who are you?”
The guy, who’s trying to pull the yo-yo loose, says, “I’m…” The yo-yo hits Jynx in the head, making her do a double take. “I’m clumsy, sorry.”
“It’s okay, I’m learning the ropes too.”
A crash draws Jynx’s attention back to Stoneheart. She grabs her staff, then propels herself towards Stoneheart. She gets to the stadium and sees that Stoneheart’s going after Kim. She jumps down and kicks Stoneheart in the face, then lands gracefully in a roll. She looks around and sees the dude in the red suit with black polka-dots, so she shoots him a sly smile. He shakes his head, then runs over to her.
“We have to figure out how to defeat him,” he says.
She nods, “Yeah, I know. I have this super cool power, what’s yours?”
“Mine’s the ability to call something that’s gonna help us defeat him. What’s yours?”
“I can destroy anything that I touch,” she answers. “Wanna see?”
“Since we can only use our powers once, no,” he replies. “We’re gonna need it to beat him.”
She nods, silently cursing herself for not asking about that. Black polka-dots looks around, clearly trying to formulate a plan in his mind. He grabs Jynx’s arm and before she has a chance to ask him what he’s doing, he pulls her down. A part of the stands goes flying over their heads, right where they were a moment before.
“Thanks,” she mutters.
“You’re welcome. I have a plan, but you’re gonna have to trust me.”
“What other choice do I have?” Jynx asks.
He shrugs, “Wait for my signal.”
He uses his yo-yo to swing to the top of the bleachers. “Hey, Stoneheart!” Stoneheart turns and he runs and jumps down. Using his yo-yo, he does an almost perfect arc and lands on Stoneheart’s head. He starts hitting Stoneheart’s head, trying to distract him.
“Open his hand and get the paper!” he shouts, while he’s trying to stay on Stoneheart’s head like he’s some kind of mechanical bull.
Jynx jumps onto Stoneheart’s hand and pries it open. The paper falls to the ground.
“Cataclysm!”
Her fingers wrap around the paper and it disintegrates. A dark butterfly flies away from the paper and Stoneheart turns back into Ivan. Jynx smiles, then her ring blinks.
“Gotta go, cutie,” Jynx says with a wave.
He gives her a smile and a wave back. She darts away, leaving the boy in spots in the stadium.
(Nino POV)
One of the kids, who’s in the stadium filming the whole ordeal, asks the question that Jynx asked him earlier.
Who are you?
“Call me Elytra.”
Nino swings away from the football stadium, trying to get home before he runs out of time. Nino goes behind his apartment building and detransforms.
“That was amazing,” Nino whispers, then laughs.
Tikki laughs too. “I’m glad that you’re not too stressed.”
“Oh no, I’m still stressed. The adrenaline is just making it hard to think about at this moment. Honestly, that’s probably better though. I would be in shock otherwise.”
He goes up to his apartment, Tikki tucked in the inside pocket of his jacket, and there’s cake in a plastic container telling him to eat what he wants and to give the neighbors the rest. He puts Tikki down on the counter and tells her to go to town. If there’s any left, he may have some. He sits down and turns the TV on. The mayor’s announcing that they’re going to celebrate Jynx and Elytra. Then they announce that people are turning into stone statues all around Paris.
“I thought we beat Stoneheart,” Nino says.
Tikki flies over. “Did you capture the Akuma?”
“Did we…? You didn’t say anything about that.”
“You have to purify the Akuma, so that it can’t attach itself to the person again. If Ivan feels any negative emotions, the Akuma will come back.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Nino mutters. “I knew that was too easy.”
“Don’t worry. Hopefully, he’ll be alright until you can figure it out tomorrow at school.”
Nino sighs, “Great, another thing to stress about.”
Nino spends most of the night up, doing homework or stressing about heroing. He gets a couple hours of sleep, but not nearly enough to ease his mind or for him to be functioning fully. He heads into school and gets to watch Chloè pick on Ivan. Ivan runs off and Nino chases after him. He loses him, but finds him in the locker room. Nino runs towards Ivan, then sits down.
“You good, man?” Nino asks, pretending that he doesn’t already know the answer.
“I’m not good,” Ivan answers. “Kim gave me this.”
Nino takes the piece of paper that Ivan’s holding out. After glancing over it, he crumples it up.
“Ignore Kim,” Nino says. “He’s always been a major asshole. If you like Mylène, tell her. You wrote her a song, so sing it to her.”
“You think that will work?” Ivan asks.
Nino nods.
“I’m gonna try that,” Ivan exclaims, getting up.
“Just keep calm,” Nino advises.
Ivan nods, then runs off. Nino gets up and heads towards class. When he gets there, most of his classmates are already there. Nino sits down, exhausted.
Ivan will be fine. He’s gonna talk to Myl è ne and things will calm down.
Chloè puts gum on Marinette’s seat and Adrien starts trying to take it off. Nino barely registers the situation until Marinette comes in and practically blows a top at him. Adrien sulks back to his seat, clearly looking defeated.
“Why didn’t you tell her that Chloè’s the one who put gum on her seat?” Nino asks.
“Chloè’s my only friend,” Adrien answers.
Nino sits up, “Sounds like you need new friends. Nino.”
“Adrien,” he replies, holding out his hand. “You already knew that though.”
Nino shakes his hand for a moment. Miss Bustier walks in and starts class. Stoneheart bursts through the wall and grabs Mylène. She starts shouting for Ivan to put her down and he says that he’s Stoneheart now, and that they’re gonna be together forever. He smashes through the outer wall and runs off with Mylène and Chloè. Nino runs out of the classroom so he can transform to capture the Akuma.
(Alya POV)
Alya runs into the bathroom so she can transform. She pats her pockets, looking for Plagg. A very loud hiss from her jacket pocket gives her the answer to where he is.
“Come on, we’ve gotta beat Stoneheart,” she says. “Claws out!”
She does her magical girl transformation, then heads out. After being able to track down Stoneheart, Jynx and Elytra meet not far outside the Eiffel Tower, where Stoneheart is and police have gathered.
“I demand my daughter’s safe return!” Mayor Bourgeois shouts into the megaphone.
Stoneheart looks at Chloè, then throws her. Elytra jumps into action and catches her, Jynx hot on his trail. Chloè goes over to her father and they both cry about each other.
“We’re clear to attack!” an officer shouts.
“No, you’ll only make it worse!” Elytra shouts.
“Leave this to the pros, you’ve already failed once!” the officer snaps back.
“I mean, he’s right,” Elytra mumbles.
Jynx grabs Elytra’s shoulders. “We are the people for this job, and we’ll prove that to them.”
“Okay,” Elytra agrees.
A cloud of Akumas is in front of the Eiffel Tower, in the shape of a head with a mask on. “People of Paris, listen carefully. I am Hawk Moth.”
“Hawk Moth?” Jynx and Elytra ask at the same time.
“Elytra, Jynx, give me the Ladybug earrings and the Cat ring now! You’ve done enough damage to these innocent people.”
“Nice try but we know who the bad guy is. Let’s not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into villains. No matter how long it takes, we will find you and you will give us your Miraculous, Hawk Moth!”
Elytra rounds up all of the Akumas in his yo-yo. “I can make a promise to the people of Paris, that Jynx and I will always be here to protect you! We’ll do everything in our power to stop Hawkmoth and return Paris back to the peace it used to have! We will stand together to keep each and every one of you safe! No matter who threatens to harm you, we will protect you!”
The crowd starts to cheer as Elytra releases the butterflies while Jynx stares at Elytra in awe. The two head up the Eiffel Tower after Stoneheart.
“We need to get them closer!” Jynx shouts.
“What do you suggest?” Elytra replies.
“I don’t know yet, but since Ivan clearly has a thing for her, we have to try somehow!”
She tries to get to the top but the stone soldiers keep stopping her.
“Get ready!” Elytra shouts.
She turns to look and he uses his yo-yo to pull Mylène closer to Stoneheart’s face, causing her lips to touch him. Stoneheart lets her go, also letting go of the piece of paper with the Akuma in it. Elytra goes to purify the Akuma when Stoneheart turns back into Ivan.
“Jynx, get Ivan!”
Elytra jumps down as Jynx uses her Cataclysm to make something for her to grab onto so she can catch Ivan. Elytra jumps down and catches Mylène, then releases the parachute he got from his Lucky Charm. Once they’re safely on the ground, he throws his Lucky Charm up into the air.
“Miraculous Elytra!”
As she helps Ivan over to Elytra and Mylène, she sees butterflies all around, fixing everything. Elytra’s looking at them in silent wonder, which makes her smile.
“Seems like you have things to talk about,” Jynx says to Ivan and Mylène, then hands the paper that had fallen to the ground during the events. “It would probably help if you actually read the words to the song instead of listening to them.”
They watch Mylène and Ivan talk, then Jynx gives Elytra a sly smile. “They sure look good together.”
“Gotta go, see ya, Jynx,” Elytra replies.
“Wait, El!”
He stops, so she holds out her fist. He fist bumps her.
“Pound it,” he says.
“See ya.”
Elytra goes off, so Jynx heads home.
(Present Time)
(Nino POV)
Nino and Adrien grab their things out of their lockers, chatting about Marinette as they do.
“So remind me again why you can’t pursue a relationship with Alya?”
“It’s like I said before, between all of my obligations, I don’t have time,” Nino says as they walk out of the school.
“I still don’t understand how all of that takes up all of your time,” Adrien says.
“Well, it takes more time than it sounds like. Or maybe I’m just not good at the stuff, so that’s why it takes so long.”
Adrien laughs and Nino smiles, trying not to feel like an idiot with the excuse he’s using.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Nino,” Adrien says.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Nino echoes with a wave.
Adrien goes to his limo and heads off, while Nino hangs back. Alya and Marinette come out, talking excitedly.
“See you tomorrow, ladies!” Nino calls out.
Alya and Marinette both call out their goodbyes. Nino smiles as they head towards the bakery. He pulls his headphones on, then heads back to his apartment. When he gets home, his mom’s making dinner.
“Hey,” she says.
“Hey,” he echoes. “What’s for dinner?”
“Pizza,” she answers.
“Sweet. Have you decided on that traveling job?”
“No, I haven’t. You’re so…”
“Well, I’ll be fine. I have friends I can crash with if I really need company. I’m old enough to take care of myself.”
“I know, you keep saying that. I just… It doesn’t feel right.”
“Take it or don’t. Just don’t make me the reason you don’t do it.”
“Alright, I’ll think about it. You need to call your aunt back.”
“I’ll do it tomorrow. I have to study for some tests that I have to take tomorrow.”
Nino studies for a while, then comes out when his mother calls him for dinner. The two eat in silence, Tikki munching on a macaron in Nino’s pocket as quietly as she can so she doesn’t draw attention to herself. After dinner, his mother goes into her room and Nino washes the dishes, with a little help from Tikki. He goes back into his room and continues studying, framing it like he’s teaching Tikki so he remembers it easier. Tikki responds when she feels it’s necessary and while she has his notes, makes sure to question points that he struggles with. He doesn’t always get them right, but he takes it in stride and keeps up the “lesson”. Tikki lays on his notes, keeping track of where they are and what subject they’re in.
“Patrol time,” Tikki says, Nino mid-lecture about his English points.
“Well, there goes the rest of my points,” Nino replies, getting up and opening his window.
“Make sure to put these away before we go,” Tikki reminds Nino. “You’ll forget them if you don’t.”
Nino puts all of his stuff into his school bag, then puts his school bag under his bed. “Tikki, spots on.”
He transforms and heads out. He runs on rooftops, watching the scenery around him. Paris is beautiful at night. The sparkling lights and the gentle sound of chatter below him calms his nerves. He makes it to the building they start their patrol route on, then sits down because Jynx isn’t there yet. He dangles his feet over the edge of the roof and kicks them like he’s a small child, humming the song he has stuck in his head.
(Alya POV)
“See you tomorrow, ladies!” Nino calls out.
“Bye, Nino!” Marinette shouts, waving.
“See ya!” Alya calls back.
The two head for the bakery so they can get some studying done. After they get settled, Alya looks around the room.
“Girl, have you put up more stuff with Adrien since the last time that I was in here?”
“No, of course not,” Marinette answers, blushing and moving her arms in a way that’s supposed to help dissuade her thoughts.
Alya folds her arm and Marinette caves.
“Yes, I did. Most of them are modeling pictures so I can just say that I’m taking inspiration from the outfits.”
“Or, you could ask him out.”
“I can’t do that, Alya. I can’t find the right words, they always come out in a jumbled mess. And before you suggest it, I tried writing it down and I still read it all kinds of wrong and ran away in shame.”
“I was gonna say write him a note and give it to him, but you do you, girl. We need to focus on math or we’re both gonna get a bad score on the test tomorrow.”
“We have a test tomorrow?” Marinette asks.
Alya nods.
The two study for a while, making sure that they’re prepared for tomorrow’s work, then Alya heads out. Plagg’s loudly chewing on cheese as she walks home, something she tells him to knock off at least twice. When she gets inside, her sisters all greet her without looking away from the TV. Alya waves, then goes into the kitchen. After grabbing dinner, she goes into her room and locks the door. She eats in silence, reading over the comments on her blog about who Elytra and Jynx might be. She finds herself laughing at several occasions when she finds names that are particularly impossible. When it’s time, she gets up for patrol.
“Plagg, claws out!”
Jynx jumps out of her window after the transformation is finished and heads towards their usual spot. She sees Elytra, sitting on the edge of the building. Once she gets close enough, she hears him humming.
“Do you sing, El?” she asks, sitting down next to him.
“I do not,” Elytra answers, “I listen to a lot of music, but I’m not that into singing.”
“Huh, interesting. Seen anything suspicious?”
Elytra shakes his head.
“You’re oddly quiet today.”
“One of my friends asked me why I don’t have time to pursue something and I had to lie because I can’t tell him about this,” Elytra says. “I hate lying to him and it feels like that’s gonna become a much bigger problem as we get to know each other better.”
“Luckily, I moved here recently so people aren’t surprised about my schedule.”
“Let’s get to patrol. I’m sure that you wanna get home. It’s chilly.”
Jynx nods, so they head out. They don’t find anything concerning, just a lost dog. They go their separate ways and Jynx heads back into her house.
“Claws in.”
Plagg races to the nightstand to get his cheese while Alya leans against her windowsill.
“What is it?” Plagg asks.
“I don’t know,” Alya answers. “I feel like I know him, but there always feels like this big wall between us. Sometimes I can stick a hand through a hole and get something which makes him feel familiar, and then the wall realizes that there’s damage and I’m right back to being confused.”
“Humans are so complicated.” Plagg begins eating his cheese while Alya closes her window and her curtains.
“I should probably try to get some sleep.” Alya gets changed and lays down. “Goodnight, Plagg.”
Plagg settles down on the pillow next to Alya’s, “Goodnight, Alya.”