Tethered Souls | A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction

The Cataclysm and Lucky Charm

Marinette was on cloud 9 as she rode the bus returning to Paris. The trip to Madrid had been a dream come true. She'd spent nearly the entire trip with Adrien. After getting lost together, they'd kept each other company the entire rest of the day. He'd accompanied her throughout the entirety of the museum, sat next to her at lunch, and joked with her on the bus back to the hotel. It was only really when Marinette had laid down to sleep that the two had been apart. She'd loved every minute of it. She'd almost forgotten about her conflicting feelings about Chat Noir. Almost. Marinette was still confused, but she was trying to let her heart take the reins on this matter, and leave her head out of the decision making process.

They were nearly back to the city now and Adrien was catching up on some Chinese lessons through his earbuds. Marinette was drawing in her sketchbook the best she could with the swaying of the bus. Everyone was sleepily occupying themselves on the quiet vehicle when all of a sudden, there was a giant explosion that came from the city ahead of them. Everyone dashed to the windows to get a better look at the scene. Mme. Mendeleiev was quick to say, "Remain calm. The superheroes Ladybug and Chat Noir will have this under control by the time we get back to the city. Please sit back in your seats."

Marinette started to panic. Chat Noir was probably already on the scene, wondering where she was. But how was Marinette supposed to get off the bus without anyone noticing? Especially without Adrien noticing? He was blocking her only way into the aisle to get to the bathroom to transform. She looked over to see Adrien leaning back into his seat uncomfortably, looking very nervous. Marinette's expression softened as she looked at him. "Adrien, everything is going to be fine, Ladybug and Chat noir can handle this. Like Mme. Mendeleiev said, it'll probably be all taken care of by the time we get back into the city," He nodded weakly at her and tapped the arm of his seat quickly. Then he got up suddenly and announced that Marinette was right and everything would be fine. Then quickly headed to the back of the bus to enter one of the two bathrooms located there. Marinette hardly had the time to process the boy's odd behavior because she took this opportunity to slip into the other stall.

She opened her purse to see Tikki waiting anxiously for her. "Marinette, how are you going to get back on the bus without anyone noticing you were gone?" The kwami exclaimed.

"I'll think of something Tikki, we don't have time to contemplate it right now! Chat Noir is probably all by himself with Hawk Moth's supervillain," Then, without giving the little creature time to respond, Marinette cried out, "Tikki, spots on!" Then, in a flash of light, she was Ladybug. She peeked out to see if she could make it out without being seen and noticed an open hatch on the ceiling of the vehicle. She looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching. Luckily, her classmates were all glued to their windows, despite their teacher's direct instructions to stay in their seats. Ladybug checked the scene once more before dashing out and hopping through the hatch on the bus. She immediately took out her bugphone to check any messages from Chat Noir and was a bit surprised to see that there were none waiting for her. She started to feel anxious that he'd gotten hurt without her there to help. She didn't know what she would do if something had happened to Chat Noir because she decided to leave Paris without telling him. She snapped the object closed and slung her yo-yo out in front of her to take off into the night.

When she arrived on the scene, she looked around at the damage. There was hardly anything left of the block, it had been completely demolished. All that was left was ash falling from the sky and shadows where buildings once stood. Ladybug's heart sunk into her chest as she began to search for any survivors. There was no sign of anyone. It was completely empty, no citizens, no supervillain, no Chat Noir. Ladybug hoped he'd just been able to find the akumatized person faster than she had. Ladybug took a look around for any nearby buildings that hadn't been damaged by the villain. She spotted a still-standing building a few hundred feet away and threw her yo-yo to the roof. Her feet lifted off the ground and she allowed herself to fly into the air. Once safely on top of the building, Ladybug stood on the edge and assessed the damage. The block she'd been standing in a few minutes ago wasn't the only one that had been demolished. There were three other sections of the city that mirrored the wreckage below her. Her heart thumped noticeably in her chest as she searched for a source of the ruin. Finally, she spotted a massive man clobbering through the streets near the Eiffel Tower. Following closely behind was a small figure cloaked in black. Ladybug's heart eased at the sight of her partner and she tried not to let herself get distracted by her feelings for him. They hadn't needed to defeat anyone since Tempest and Ladybug was anxious to keep her partner safe this time, no matter the cost.