Chapter 1: The Beginning
Chapter Text
On the dark streets of Paris a shadowy figure leaped from roof to roof. With each new leap a spike of pain shot up his leg. With his breath short, and energy nearly drained the shadowy figure steadied himself against a wall.
“When did this get so hard?” A ragged cough left his lungs as he fell against a wall. With a shaky breath he whispered, “Shell off”. With a flash of green light, the shadowy figure disappeared, and was replaced with an elderly man wearing a red Hawaiian shirt.
“Master!” A green turtle screamed, as he glided around the old man.
“Relax Wayzz,” the old man wheezed, “I’m just taking a break”.
“I don’t see why you are doing this Master,” Wayzz landed on the man's shoulder, “I know we have been– compromised– but you have other options! We could–”
“No!” Fu snapped, “I am not– I can’t–” a sharp cough left his lungs. He trembled against the wall, as he pulled a music box close to his chest. A single tear ran down his face, “Not when I’m so close.”
Wayzz let out an annoyed sigh, “I’ll never understand humans”.
“You seemed to have understood us quite well eighty years ago,” Fu let out a dry laugh.
“This again?” Wayzz sighed, “You humans are horrible at forgiveness, no wonder there's no Miraculous for Mahari yet.”
“You took over my body!”
“I was protecting you!”
“You turned those trenches into a graveyard!”
“Sorry Mahari, looks like the world isn’t ready for you yet,” The green kwami said to no-one. After a second, Wayzz tensed up, glueing his eyes on Fu. “Wait, did you hear that?”
Still paranoid, Fu tightened his grip on the box, pushing himself up the wall. “What! Do you hear someone?” His body shook at the thought. He isn’t fit to fight anyone at the moment.
“No,” Wayzz got closer, leaning on Fu’s nose, “it’s it’s— Mahari… and she forgives you for your spiteful nature”.
“You’re horrible,” Fu wheezed.
“I get it from you,” Wayzz shot back. Knowing he’s unable to deny Wayzz’s statement, Fu leaned his head against the wall he was using as a life line.
Fu traveled all over the world, never a moment of peace, never having a place to hang his shell for long, too busy searching. Over the past two centuries of his– wandering , he’s found many things. Fame, glory, friendship, and even romance. But he couldn’t let himself have that, not after what he’s done, not until he finds– It, can he truly let himself live. But of course, when he’s so close to It , he finds himself running away. Because he knows he wasn’t the one who found It , It found him.
“Master,” Wayzz mumbled with a lettuce leaf still in his mouth, “did you hear that?”
“I’m not falling for that again Wayzz,” Fu muttered, his voice still weak.
“No, it’s not a–” a loud boom shook the building. “Transform, NOW!”
Fu wasted no time saying two magic words that saved him hundreds of times over. But unlike all of those other times, he knows his shell is too soft to protect himself from the fiery embrace of Lady Death.
So he ran, like he always does when things get to real.
For the second time that night a shadowy figure leaped from rooftop to rooftop. Each new leap sent a spike of pain up his leg. But this time he doesn’t have the luxury of a break, because only a few paces behind him is a second, much taller, shadowy figure.
Fu, or rather Jade Turtle, jumped off one building, summoning glowing green hexagons to use as makeshift stairs, into the abandoned Parisian streets below, hoping to throw whatever that thing is off his trail. It didn’t work.
No matter how many walls, how many shields, or how hard he ran, Jade wasn’t able to outrun him. Fear filled his chest as the thing closed in on him, just about within arms reach, until finally the monster grabbed the back of neck and chuckled him across the street into a wall.
The sound of shattering brick filled his ear, as he stared up at the creature finally getting a good look at it. It was humanoid in the way it walked, and as far as he could tell that’s where it ended. It was big, too big for its clothes, too big to be any natural human, maybe even too big for the world. It wore all black with an executioner's mask match. Blood leaked from its side, probably one of the sharp edges of Jade’s shields.
Shame filled his chest as he glared at the gash. In his youth he would’ve been able to crush this thing with a mere snap of his fingers, but now all he could manage was a slash to the side.
Tears ran down his face after he realized what he must do. “I’m sorry,” he muttered under his breath.
With what little strength he had left, Jade opened the box putting green bubbles around each individual piece of jewelry.
The first to fly off was a pair of red earrings, closely followed by a black ring; they circled around each other, joyous in their reunion. Shortly after an orange fox-tailed necklace flew off into the horizon, hurriedly getting away. The last to become airborne was a purple butterfly brooch, but before it could join its family on the sky line, a giant hand grabbed it, enclosing it completely.
Jade let out a rugged cough as he felt his transformation start to wane. No, nonono! This can’t be happening! He has to get it back, but how?
He lost hold of his transformation, so now he is just a– a sharp pain spread through his gut. The taste of iron filled his mouth as he pulled the music box closer to himself.
“I’m sorry Wayzz,” Fu muttered under his breath, “I’m a failure of a turtle”. Fu looked around for his century-long companion, but he was nowhere to be found.
Nino ran down the poorly lit streets of Paris, mainly using his phone for light.
He was so dead! He didn’t mean to stay out past curfew, he didn’t! It just happened. Nino was at a party— with his mom’s permission of course— to see one of his favorite up-and-coming DJs. And it was so cool! The music was great, the party was epic, and he even got to meet the DJ who then let him play a couple of his own tracks! Needless to say, Nino lost track of time, not just missing his first bus but also the second one.
So here he was, running down shady alleyways hoping to make it home before his mom’s shift at the hospital ends, and that shitty babysitter just up and leaves his little brother home alone, again .
Nino was only a few blocks away when suddenly the light of his phone went out. “Damn it!” Nino yelled as he turned his phone around to see it was dead. His mom told him to charge his phone before the party, but noooo, he just had to go and be his usually stupid self. Now he has to find his way home with the pathetic light from the street lamps. He might as well be walking in the dark.
He carefully walked down the alleyway, keeping his hand on the wall so he wouldn’t trip. Nino was about to enter the main street, when a flash of green light caught his attention, which was quickly followed by a loud bang. Nino quickly hid behind a wall, only peeking his head out around the corner.
But instead of answers he was met with more questions.
What he saw was a man in a green suit with a weird hat on his head. Blood running his face as he laid collapsed against the wall, as a towering figure stalked closer to him. Nino knows he should do something; should stop this. But it is like his feet are planted to the floor, and gained the speed of a turtle.
Well Nino was stuck in his thoughts, the old man pulled out a box from his bag, and opened it. The next thing he knew four green orbs emerged from within. The first two flew high into the sky, circling around each other in a happy dance. The third wasted no time, disappearing into the Paris skyline. The fourth and final one, levitated into the air taking in its new freedom; short lasting as it was. A large hand snatched the orb, giving no room to escape.
With a flash of green light the strange man disappeared, and was replaced with an old man in a Hawaiian shirt. Nino watched as despair filled his sunken eyes, a tear ran down his face washing away some of the blood as he muttered something that Nino couldn’t hear.
Nino would have stood there frozen forever as he watched the taller figure grab the old man by the shirt lifting him into the air. And he probably would’ve stayed there if something didn’t take over his body. Because without him even realizing it, he picked up a rock he didn’t even know was there, jumped out of the alleyway and threw it at the giant.
The giant slowly turned towards Nino, dropping the elderly man. He pointed at Nino, motioning for him to leave. Which he should, he has no business here. But for whatever reason he can’t. He can’t just turn around and leave this old man to his death, he has too…
Protect…
A small pressure of weight makes itself known on Nino’s shoulder. Nino whips his head towards the creature, stumbling back a bit as he does. What he was met with was a small, slightly glowing turtle(?) that looked like one of those big eyed stuffed animals that you’d see at bookstores.
The creature floated in front of him, putting his hands(?), fins(?), numbs(?) whatever they were, as a sign of peace.
“Please,” Nino jumped as the creature spoke, “help me protect my master.” Every nerve in Nino’s body told him to run away, to hide, to protect himself. But instead he finds himself nodding in agreement.
“Great,” the little turtle said, landing on his shoulder, “now get him to charge at you”.
“What!” Nino squealed.
“Just do it!” the turtle said, yanking his ear.
As if possessed, Nino turned back towards the man who was still trying to shoo him away, almost pleading. A shiver ran down Nino’s spine as he slipped into a fighting stance, staring the masked man right in the eyes.
The masked man let out a defeated sigh before charging right at him. His fist was raised ready to attack. Nino knew it was too late for him to get out of the way, so with what little self preservation he had left he hid his face behind his arms. But the impact never came, only the sound.
Nino slowly opened his eyes to see the small turtle creature floating in front of him, projecting some translucent green hexagon shield. After hitting it, the man went flying across the street, breaking the pavement. He let out a pained groan, well Nino tried not to gag at the increase of the iron in the air.
“Woow…” Nino stuttered, falling to the ground, “that was– epic!”
“You’re not going to think it’s that epic in a few seconds.” the creature said, landing on his shoulder.
“What do you mean by…”. A sharp pain ran through Nino’s body, causing him to completely collapse to the ground. His limbs were spasming, and then everything just went black.
When Nino finally came to, the taste of copper filled his mouth and a harsh ringing filled his ears. As he tried to push himself up, but as soon as he put any pressure on his right arm a loud crack vibrated through the empty street.
“Aahh!” Nino cried, falling back to the ground holding his arm. A deep throbbing pain ran through his arm with every heartbeat, as a statically tingling vibrated in his fingers.
“Be careful kid,” a voice said just out of sight, “you’re in a fragile state.” Nino whipped his head around to see the small turtle plushy thing from earlier.
“You’re actually real?” Nino finds himself asking behind his broken cries.
“I’m as real as your broken arm,” he emphasized his point by tapping his said broken arm, sending another brittle pain through his body. “Speaking of that-- only a broken arm and bloody nose. You’re tougher than you look.”
“So you knew this would happen, you— you turtle mouse thing!” Nino yelled, pushing himself up on his good arm.
“Of course not, I was expecting it to be worse,” the thing said, taking a seat on his knee, “and the names Wayzz, kid”.
“I got a couple names for you,” Nino growled at the creature, or rather Wayzz .
Wayzz let out a small disappointed sigh, “You humans are confusing. Just call an ambulance before you run out of adrenaline and pass out again.” He started to float over to the unconscious man who was still propped up against the wall. Wayzz turned back towards Nino slightly glaring at him. “Well, what are you waiting for?!”
“My phone is dead,” Nino muttered meekly, wiping his nose.
“You have gotta be kidding me–” Wayzz sighed. A green hexagon shield formed below Nino, lifting him into the air, and the next thing he knows he is placed right next to the old man. “There’s a phone in his right pants pocket, the password is 999998, and when you call you’ll tell them that you saw an old man being mugged and stupidly jumped in to help.”
“And what if I tell them the truth?” Nino questioned as he rummaged through the old man's pockets.
“I wish you luck with that,” Wayzz let out a small laugh at the idea. Nino couldn’t even bring himself to glare at the turtle as he held the old man’s phone with his good arm. He knew Wayzz was right, who would believe a sixteen year old who is badly injured. They’d probably just think it’s some kind of trauma response, and then he’d be forced to go back to therapy.
With a defeated sigh, Nino shackly punched in the password and dialed the emergency line. Only after telling the nice lady on the other line his location, and some of his and the old man’s injuries, did it actually feel real.
A pained sob left him as he carefully cradled his broken arm. The pain in his body increased as the adrenaline began to leave his body, and his vision began to blur as the world started to disappear.
Chapter 2: Origins pt.1
Summary:
Meeting the rest of the cast.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
‘Buzz Buzz!’
“Not yet…” Marinette groaned, hiding underneath her covers. She hugged her blanket close to her, hoping to trap not just the warmth but also the sweetness of her dreams.
It was a little strange, Marinette almost never remembered her dreams, but this one was– different. It was colorful and just as detailed as it was abstract. It danced in her mind, holding her close, showing her all the things she could become, the things she could do, the things design and create. But as soon as she tried to reach for these things they disappeared in a flash of red light.
But maybe if she focused enough, she could just—
“Marnette!” A voice called from downstairs, “Your alarm has been going off for fifteen minutes, you're going to be late for school!”
“Coming mom!” Marinette scrambled up, nearly falling off her ladder in the process. She hurriedly got dressed before running downstairs.
“Good morning sweetie,” her mom said as Marinette jumped onto one of the kitchen stools before promptly falling off it. Her mom let out a slight giggle before placing her breakfast on the counter.
“It’s not funny…” Marinette groaned, as she pulled herself back onto the stool.
“It’s not, I’m sorry sweetie,” she said as she patted Marinette’s head. “Your shirts on backwards by the way”.
“What!” Marinette screeched as she tried to fix the problem, but only succeeded in falling off the stool again.
“Are you okay sweetie?” Mom tried her best to hide her laughter, but it was no use.
“This day is going to suck!” Marinette said as she curled up on the floor.
“Don’t say that,” her mom said, sitting on the floor next to her, “you can’t start your first day of school with that attitude.”
“I’m just keeping my expectations low mom,” Marinette said, rolling onto her back, “because knowing my luck Chloe and Sabrina are going to make sure it does.”
Mom let out a tired sigh as she pulled Marinette into her arms, “I’ll never know what happened to you three.” She said it so quietly that Marinette didn’t think she meant to say it out loud. “They probably won’t even be in your class this year.”
“Knowing my luck, they will be”. Her mom was about to say something but was quickly interrupted by a loud buzzing sound.
“Oh no!” Marinette scrambled up to the counter grabbing her phone, “I’m going to be late for school…” Marinette slipped on her shoes and was about to run out the door when her mom grabbed her shoulder, pushing a croissant into her hand.
“Go see your dad in the bakery, he has a surprise for you,” she gave her a peck on her forehead before letting go of her, “have a great day dear, love you.”
“Love you too!” Marinette yelled as she ran down the stairs.
Little did she know that on the other side of town there was a boy around her age also running, with a bit of a different reason.
Adrien knew he should have woken up early, if he blew this Chloe would never forgive him. And after everything Chloe and Sabrina had done for him to be able to have a chance to go to actual school, he wouldn’t blame them.
But the dream he had last night was like no other. Paris in runes, buildings, monuments, statues covered in green ivy that sent a spike of pain up his arm every time he tried to tough it. The statues looked like regular people just going about their day. Somewhere walking their dogs, drinking coffee, even hanging out with friends with no sign of fear on their faces. It should have been disturbing , yet it was so peaceful .
It was open and clear, he could go anywhere and everywhere he wanted. No restrictions, no rules, no expectations, everything was free!
But unfortunately reality wasn’t so forgiving. Home life was the farthest thing he would describe as free. Being home-schooled, having hundreds of extracurricular, modeling , he couldn’t even go outside with his best and only friends, Chloe and Sabrina, without Nathalie and/or Gorilla keeping an eye on him.
Today might be the only day he’d be able to get a smidge of freedom, and he’s about to blow it due to him dreaming about said freedom. How ironic.
Adrien was only a few feet away from the school when he suddenly felt someone grab his arm, yanking him into the hedges. He let out a startled scream before a hand came to cover his mouth.
“Calm down you idiot, it’s just us!” a familiar voice whispered. Once she knew that he wasn’t going to scream, Chloe let him go, turning her gaze towards Sabrina who was peeking her head around the hedges. “Sabrina, status”.
“Coast is clear, but if my GPS is right they should be here in a matter of minutes,” Sabrina rolled towards them showing a map on her phone that had a red dot on it.
“Wait, you two put a tracker on my car again?” Adrien stuttered, shocked at this revelation. Sabrina's face reddened as she turned away, not wanting to look him in the eye.
But fortunately for him, shame wasn’t a word Chloe was familiar with. “It’s just one of my old phones that Sabrina and I hooked to a super-battery. It works just as well and gives us some plausible deniability if it’s found under the seat.”
Adrien stared at his friend with astonishment. If this is the stuff she came up with to help him, he’d hate to see the things she’d do to people she didn’t like. Adrien didn’t have time to imagine all the wicked things they could do, before Sabrina grabbed both of their arms, shaking them.
“The limo is around the corner, it’s time to enact plan C.3!” Without a word, Chloe jumped out of the hedges as Sabrina dragged him the other direction. They were halfway around the school when Sabrina stopped at a door.
“Sabrina what is going on, what is plan C.3!?” Adrien whispered as Sabrina looked through her bag.
“It’s step three of plan C of mission ‘ Get Adrien to School’ .” She said it with such ease that it made Adrien stupid for even asking. She rummaged through her bag for a few more seconds before letting out a small cry of victory, as she pulled out a small golden key.
“Is that–?”
“A duplicate of the master key to the school, yep”.
“That has to be illegal!”
Sabrina gave him an unimpressed look as she opened up the door. “Adrien this is like the most legal thing I’ve done today. Now stop wasting time!” She pushed him inside, slamming the door behind them.
What a way to start your first day of school.
At the front of the school, Alya walked up the stairs, dreading the fact that she is not just going to a new school, but to a school in a completely different country.
Why did her dad insist they move here? She gets that there might be more opportunities here but did they really have to move away from their friends? If Alya had it her way she would’ve stayed in bed till the day was over. Especially after the dream she had last night.
Alya remembered standing on a cloud, looking up at the ground that was supposed to be below her. All sorts of aquatic life swam around her in the open air, fish, turtles, dolphins, even a whale. She extended her hand to touch the beautiful creature, but as soon as her finger grazed its milky blue side the gravity shifted, sending her towards the ground.
She should’ve been scared; maybe she was, but how the sky turned from blue, to purple, to pink, and then a deep orange overwhelmed any emotion she would’ve had. The next thing she knew, she landed in a gray ocean full of birds and butterflies. Every last one of them flying through the water, leaving a trail of color behind them.
When Alya finally got to shore, she expected to walk into a meadow, or a jungle, or even a mountain. But the further she walked the previously soft grass turned to hard stone and the empty horizon became polluted with towering buildings. She stumbled backwards hoping to retreat to the ocean or even the sky, but when she turned around the ocean was replaced with a river that was as black as the sky above. Alya squeezed onto the guard railings mulling over the idea of jumping into the inky water below, but just as she could do anything a strange sight caught her eye.
A boat floated down the river, leaving a trail of colors behind it. But the oddest thing about it was the large orange fox sitting in the center, just staring at her. Without even thinking, Alya climbed over the railing and jumped. She landed on the front deck, only a few feet away from the fox.
The fox tilted its head as it slowly approached her. Alya extended her hand to the creature, letting it sniff it. But just as she was about to run her hands through its fur, a loud thud shook the boat.
A shadowy figure hung off the side of the boat, as their grip began to slip. Alya ran towards it, grabbing onto its twig-like arms, pulling it on board. Their skin was warm as they collapsed against her, slightly shaking.
“Are you alright?” Ayla remembered asking as she tried to help them stand. Now that she was up close she noticed that they had long straight hair, with a more frame feminine, but yet she was unable to put any characteristics to the face. It's not that the stranger didn’t have a face, it was like the more Alya focused on it the more it shifted. “That must’ve been a hard jump,” Alya said, trying to comfort the shaking girl.
She turned where she assumed the girl had jumped and let out a faint whistle. It was farther than the jump she had to make. But before she could compliment the girl on her jumping skill something shoved her towards the edge of the boat.
“W–what are you doing!?” Alya cried as she tried to fight against the stranger’s grip. The girl didn’t respond, only pushing her further off the boat. The fox let out a bark distracted Alya just enough that the girl got the upper hand on her, completely pushing her off.
As Alya fell towards the inky water, the sound of laughter filled the air.
When Alya woke up she was on the ground next to her bed, with her alarm blaring on full blast. Great, just great.
She reached the top of the stairs when she heard something in the bushes. A blond girl ran out, brushing leaves off her skirt.
“Weird,” Alya muttered under her breath. She pulled out her phone and leaned against the railing of the stairs. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as a white limo pulled up to the front of the school.
Chloe felt her body tensed up as the limo pulled up right next to her. “Don’t panic. You prepared for this,” Chloe whispered under her breath. She knew she should feel more confident, Sabrina and her spent hours rehearsing for this very situation. She forced her shoulders to relax, and slowly took off her sunglasses.
“Miss Bourgeois,” a familiar voice said from the car. She watched as Nathalie stepped out the driver’s side door. Crap, it’s Nathalie! And she’s by herself, where’s Gorilla? How is this already going wrong!?
Chloe forced out a scoff, and rolled her eyes, “Nathalie, I knew you since I was three, I don’t see why you started calling me Miss Bourgeois all of sudden”.
Nathalie let out a sigh, “My apologies Chloe. Have you happened to have seen Adrien anywhere?”
“He helped me pick out my outfit for school yesterday, but no, I haven't seen him today,” Chloe did her best to sound disinterested in Nathalie’s questioning, but it was hard to tell if it was working. “Why do you ask?” Why did it have to be Nathalie, why not Gorilla, or at least why wasn’t he here?
Nathalie glared at her, “He wasn’t in his room this morning,” she took a step towards Chloe, slowly looking her up and down, “and it wouldn’t be the first time that a certain someone got a stupid idea in his head”.
Chloe let out a gasp, “Why would you think I’d do something like that, how much time do you think I have on my hands! I hardly have any time with school starting. On top of that, I'm student body president which cuts whatever time I do have in half!” Chloe whipped her head to the side, covering up her smile with a snarl. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to hang out with him with me being at school and all.” Chloe took a peak at Nathalie’s face, and had to cover up a laugh with a scoff. “And I wouldn’t put him in that kind of danger knowing the type of weirdos his stardom could attract. That would be utterly irresponsible of me”.
Nathalie’s left eye slightly twitched and Chloe could see the stiffness in her arm through her sleeve. Nervous? That’s not an emotion that Chloe usually had the privilege of seeing from Nathalie. How interesting, she’ll have to make an effort to remember it.
Chloe let out a groan, slamming her heel against the pavement. “Knowing him he’s probably in a lame disguise, in or on the way to some remote cafe that’s a healthy distance away from his house.”
“Like the one you and that red-head kidnap him too?” Nathalie said with a straight face, but Chloe couldn’t help but notice the slight growl in her voice.
“Exactly, I suggest you check the one in Saint-Denis, he’s been craving their croissants recently.” A loud noise vibrated from the school. Thank God!! Chloe has never felt so relieved to hear that bell. “Well,” Chloe said, trying to keep the dance of joy out of her voice, “that’s my cue to leave.”
Alya watched as the girl walked up the stairs towards her. She had to admit, this girl didn’t seem more than a spoiled brat. But, curiosity always got the better of her.
“Hey,” Alya called after the blond, she jogged towards her ignoring the annoyed expression the girl gave her, “I’m new here and a little lost, can you help me find my class?”
Chloe’s face scrunched up, “Sure, I guess that that’s my job,” she snatched the schedule out of Alya’s hands. “You and I are in the same class, so just follow me. I’ll even introduce you to the other new kid,” Chloe let out a sigh, handing her back her schedule, “it’d be good for you both.”
Alya couldn’t tell if this girl was being mean or just had a serious tone problem. She followed Chloe into the main courtyard, standing slightly behind her.
“So,” Alya said, swinging her voice, “what were you and that lady talking about?” Chloe whipped her body around glaring at Alya.
“Are you a snitch?”
“ What ?” Neither of them were able to get their questions answered before some force sent both of them tumbling to the ground. It took Alya a second to pull herself together, but when she finally did, she saw a girl around her age, with jet black hair and Asian features, hurriedly picking up crumbled cookies.
“DUPAIN-CHENG!!!!”
Notes:
This was really fun to write. I hope you guys enjoy it. ;)
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Comments? Kudos?