Tom and Sabine are extremely generous, and insist that they are happy to help anyone who escapes the League. The League stopped trying to send assassins to kill Sabine after the sixth failed attempt, and they leave the bakery alone now, which makes it all the better place for Marinette to stay.

She gets the entire third floor of the bakery as her bedroom. It already has a loft bed, desk, and chair, as well as a skylight that leads to a rooftop balcony. The bedroom, however, lacks any sort of personality, and Marinette throws herself into decorating in order to forget the absence of her twin.

When she is finished, the walls have been painted a dark emerald and the desk and chair are painted black (because dark green goes a lot better with black then white). Marinette purchases a black vanity and dark green chaise with black accents to fill some of the empty space, and buys a new sewing machine and dress form for her designs. She puts up a bulletin board on the empty wall next to her bed and fills it with pictures of her family, and also hangs fairy lights around the room to give it a more cozy feel.

Marinette still feels like something is missing from her room. A quick search on the internet shows that most children and teenagers also have plush animals or dolls in their rooms, so she makes her own. A couple hours later, a row of Gotham's vigilantes occupies the shelf above her bed, other than Starling. That would be harder to explain away than just liking the vigilantes from her home city, given that nobody outside of Gotham knows she exists.

The decorating takes about two weeks in total. Marinette spends another week and a half learning the Dupain-Cheng recipes and helping in the bakery, and she video chats with her siblings weekly, as well as Jon.

Father is distant again, but Marinette understands. He must see Damian's features every time he looks at her, the same way she sees Damian in him.

.o0o.

On her first day of school, Marinette safely pulls an old man out of the way of an oncoming car without endangering the macarons Tom gives her to share with her new class.

When the man thanks her, she offers him a macaron even though she wants to rip into him for wearing such an ugly shirt. (Loud Hawaiian print in the fashion capital of the world, the atrocity.) As Marinette crosses the street, she shakes off the feeling that the man was hiding something. It's not her problem.

Collége Francois Dupont doesn't have a uniform, so Marinette picked an outfit that represents her to the very core. A dark gray blazer with a black bat embroidered over her heart, a blood red shirt, black flare-cut pants, and steel-toed combat boots. There are numerous weapons hidden all over her body, but the public doesn't need to know that.

Marinette easily navigates the crowd (paparazzi was much worse) and locates her locker, dropping off the appropriate textbooks before finding the right classroom and entering. She selects a seat in the far back so she can survey the room. A red-haired boy (Nathaniel Kurtzberg, judging from his appearance) sits alone across the aisle from her, but Marinette does not join him.

Another red-haired teacher (why is she followed by redheads wherever she goes? Wallace, Babs, Roy, Koriand'r, and Artemis were more than enough) with a saccharine smile walks in, introducing herself as Mme. Bustier for the new students. They are asked to introduce themselves. A brunette with glasses goes first.

"Hi! I'm Alya Césaire. I'm an aspiring journalist, and I love superheroes! I moved from Nice this summer." The teacher asks if anyone has any questions for Alya. There are none.

Then it's her turn. Marinette stands, walks to the front of the room, and speaks in perfectly accented French. "My name is Marinette Cheng. I am originally from Gotham, but I am staying with my aunt to study here in France."

Alya immediately puts her hand in the air. "You're from Gotham? Have you ever seen any of the Bats?"

"I have seen a few capes on the rooftops once or twice, but it is not advised to be out in the city after dark." Marinette replies. She turns to Mme. Bustier, holding up the box of macarons. "My uncle Tom provided me with macarons to share with the class from the bakery. May I pass them out?"

The teacher's smile almost makes her cringe with the false sincerity. "Go ahead!" Marinette obediently starts handing them out.

"Wait. Your aunt and uncle own the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie and Patisserie? That's the best bakery in Paris!" A dark-skinned boy with a cap and headphones (Nino Lahiffe, the file she read proclaims.) exclaims.

Marinette smiles proudly, and is slightly surprised to find that it is genuine. "Yes, they do." A haughty-looking blonde turns up her nose at the cookies, but her redheaded friend accepts one. Chloé Bourgeois and Sabrina Raincomprix. The mayor and police chief's daughters, respectively.

Mme. Bustier begins the class, and not long after, Marinette notices that the boy known as Kim is harassing the one named Ivan. Ivan is growing increasingly more agitated as Kim passes him more and more notes, until he snaps.

"Kim!"

The teacher whirls around, shocked that someone interrupted her. "Ivan, what is the matter?"

"It's Kim! He's-"

"Principal's office, Ivan." Mme. Bustier says sternly, and Marinette feels a flare of annoyance. Ivan wasn't even given a chance to explain.

"Pardon me, Mme. Bustier, but as I sit behind them, I witnessed the entire interaction, and from my perspective, Ivan appeared to be the victim. I believe you should give him a chance to explain." She barely manages to keep her voice even.

"What is there to explain? He interrupted my class! Now, Ivan!" Mme. Bustier commands, and Marinette is reminded of a four year old girl, being handed a sword almost as tall as her and told to execute the supposed traitor to the League in front of her. But there is nothing more she can do, so she goes back to discreetly observing the class while pretending to take notes.

.o0o.

When the period ends, Marinette heads to the library. Alya, the other new girl, catches up to her. "Marinette, right? That was really cool, how you tried to stand up for Ivan. You were like a superhero!"

One side of her mouth twitches. "It was the right thing to do."

The brunette grins. "Well, as Majestia always said, all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothi-"

Suddenly, the ground shakes, and something that sounds suspiciously like Ivan roars Kim's name. Marinette quickly pulls up the security feed from the front of the building on her tablet (thanks, Babs) and frowns.

There's a large monster made of what looks like rock smashing everything and roaring "KIM!" in Ivan's voice. As she watches, the monster smashes the camera, cutting off her feed. Magic. There was no other explanation for it. Marinette hated magic. All the Bats did. It defied all logic, everything they knew about science.

Next to her, Alya is checking her phone's GPS and camera before running for the exit. "Where are you going?" Marinette calls, running after her.

"Where there's a supervillain, there are always superheroes!" The girl yells back. "I'm going to get them all on video!" Marinette groans.

"Another Lois Lane... You're going to get hurt, Alya!" But the girl isn't exactly wrong. The European branch of the League is based in Paris, after all.

.o0o.

The school sends everyone home, and Marinette is halfway across the street when she realizes that today is the day all the League members across the universe go to the Watchtower for the quarterly meeting, and therefore will not hear about the situation in time. She curses in Arabic and runs into the bakery. She can't get a secure line to the Watchtower from her tablet.

Marinette enters her room and beelines for her computer, but pauses. Someone has been in her room. Tom and Sabine know to not enter, and her instinct, after years with the League, is never wrong. Her eyes quickly scan the room until they fall on a small wooden box with an unfamiliar insignia.

Curiously (foolishly), she opens the box, only to shield her eyes against the ball of blinding pink light that rises from it. When the light fades, she is face to face with a red and black spotted... something.

"Don't be scared, Marinette!" The thing chirps in a squeaky voice. "My name is Tikki. I'm a kwami, and you have been chosen to be a hero!"

Oh, joy. Her mind grumbles. Marinette stares at the plain black earrings the box contains. "Tikki, I do not know where you came from, but I am afraid you will have to find someone else. I am not a hero, nor do I wish to be one."

The red kwami zips closer to her face, making her take a step back. "Marinette, you can be a hero! You have a creative, strategic mind, which makes you a perfect match for me! Although, the destruction in you makes you a great match for Plagg too..." Tikki mutters.

A roar echoes in the distance, and Marinette winces.

"There are civilians in danger, Marinette, and it's up to you to help save them." The kwami insists.

Marinette sighs. So much for giving up the vigilante life. She can't even say no to a three inch-tall being. "How do I do... whatever this is?"

Tikki beams. "I knew you'd do it! Okay, listen carefully..."

.o0o.

"Spots on." The bright pink light from before engulfs her, and when it fades, Marinette walks over to her floor-length mirror and blinks.

"Well, I always hated magic. Is this my punishment? To be a magical girl?" She grumbles as she takes in her new look.

Her skin is now much paler, in order to pass as Caucasian. Marinette's subconscious must have decided that her normal tone would be too obvious in France. Her dark hair, while the same length, now had red streaks going through it, and her suit (why so skintight?) is red with black spots, with solid black patches on her torso and two-thirds of her limbs. A red yoyo with five black spots hangs off her waist, and a black mask similar to the one she wore as Starling covers the bottom portion of her face.

"What, exactly, made Tikki choose a yoyo as a weapon? Did she even choose the yoyo?" Marinette muses, unhooking said object and giving it a few experimental tosses. Another roar hits her ears. "I should get out there. Tikki said I had a partner?"

Marinette throws the yoyo, and it hooks onto a nearby chimney, working similarly to her old grappling hook. She laughs as she is pulled through the air. It feels good to be airborne again, no matter how much she tries to stay away from this life. But now is not time to dwell on that- she has a job to do.

She guesses that the blonde in an even tighter leather catsuit is her partner. He introduces himself as 'Chat Noir.' Well, since he went with Black Cat in French, Marinette chooses 'Ladybug.' English, as a reminder of her home.

They follow the destruction path to the stadium and battle the akuma, as Tikki said it was called, for a bit until it becomes clear that close combat will not work. Ladybug calls her Lucky Charm and catches a wetsuit, falling back to scan her surroundings.

"Ooh, is that your power? I can destroy anything I touch, see?" Her partner says excitedly, calling up his Cataclysm and foolishly wasting it on a goalpost, rendering his power useless.

"You only have one use of it, you imbecile!" Ladybug snaps. "Now you have five minutes before you forcibly detransform! Did your kwami not teach you anything?"

Chat Noir grins sheepishly. "I may have gotten a little excited."

Ladybug huffs. "Tt. Take this seriously, Chat Noir. I have a plan. You will not enjoy it very much. Do not resist." She wraps her yoyo around her partner and throws him full force at the akuma, who reflexively catches him in its open hand. The right fist, as she suspected, remains firmly closed around what has to be the akumatized object.

She hands herself over to the akuma, clutching the wetsuit, which has been connected to a tap with a nearby hose, and yells for Alya, who is crouching nearby, filming (a Lois Lane indeed) to turn on the tap. She obliges, and the suit inflates, forcing the akuma's fist open and letting Ladybug drop to the ground, along with a purple paper ball. The akumatized object.

Ladybug rips the paper ball and frees a purple butterfly, which flies away. The akuma turns back into Ivan, and Chat Noir lands on his feet nearby, much like his namesake.

Ladybug turns to see a phone camera shoved in her face, held by Alya Césaire, who asks a flurry of questions.

Years of handling the press comes in handy. She gives the camera a false smile, not that the audience can see it at all with her mask. "I am Ladybug. This is my partner, Chat Noir." She gestures to said partner, who smiles blindingly at the camera. Right on cue, their miraculouses beep.

"That's our cue. Bug out!" Ladybug throws her yoyo and launches into the sky, cringing moments later at how cheesy the last part sounded.