Miraculous Startline

Reckless Revenger

"CHLOE!" Nino yelled as he fell to the ground, a red welt obvious on his forehead. Chole strutted in, unaware of Nino, who was sitting on the floor in shock, his mouth open and gaping.

"Nino! Are you okay?" Miss Bustier asked as she helped Nino up.

"Yeh, yeh I'm fine. Thanks Chloe." Nino said sarcastically as he gave Miss Bustier a thumbs up.

Chloe continued into the room and took her seat next to Sabrina. With a start, she noticed the red spot on Nino's forehead, and she weakly apologised to him. Placing his cap back onto his head, Nino gave a small smile to Alya as she made her way into class with Marinette. Alya stepped over something and her smile turned to a frown as her eyes landed on Nino's headphones, which were on the floor in pieces.

"Nino! What happened?" Marinette asked as Alya bent down to pick up the broken parts.

Nino's eyes stung with tears as he looked at his favourite pair of headphones in Alya's hands. Alya placed the parts on the desk and grabbed Ninos hand. She knew the significance of these headphones, they had been given to him by the legendary Jagged Stone as a reward for winning a mixtape competition. Nino used the headphone for his inspiration, they're what pushed him to pursue a career in film and sound production in the future. Nino didn't have many personal items, between his brother and his friends, he always seemed to go unnoticed. The headphones represented his individuality, like Alya's blog represented hers. That's how Alya understood what Nino was feeling right now. If her blog got taken down, Alya could only imagine the anger and frustration... Which is exactly how Nino must be feeling.

"Who did this babe?" Alya asked, squeezing Nino's hand tightly.

"Chloe, apologise to Nino please." Miss Bustier stepped in.

"Chloe? You did this?" Alya asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"It was an accident, how was I supposed know he was standing behind the door?" Chloe spat, folding her arms.

"Chloe-" Miss Bustier warned, taking a seat at her desk.

"Alight! I'm sorry jeez." Chloe huffed, rolling her eyes.

"And to think you changed!" Alya scolded the arrogant girl.

"Maybe I can fix them, can I have a look?" Marinette asked from the doorway.

"Sure." Nino said, a bit more spring in his voice- optimistic that if anyone could fix them, it would be Marinette- Paris' superhero!

Marinette approached the desk, but before she could get a better look, she swung around at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Did I miss much?" Adrien asked, a grin planted on his face.

"Adrien!" Marinette exclaimed, along with other classmates dotted around the room.

"It's good to have you back, Adrien." Miss Bustier said as the blonde walked into the class and gave Marinette a big hug.

"Didn't you just see her last night?" Nino asked bluntly, his mood dropping again- noticing Marinette's attention moving to Adrien and away from his headphones.

"Yeah?" Adrien replied, confused at Nino's tone.

"How're you feeling?" Chloe asked, ignoring the fact Marinette was clinging to his arm.

"I'm fine honestly, I'm pretty much back to normal. I promise!" Adrien laughed, walking up to his seat, with Marinette, past Nino and Alya who were still standing in front of the desk, hopelessly staring as Marinette walked past.

Noticing the eyes on her, Marinette gulped and promised she would take a look at the headphones later in the day, once Adrien had settled in. Adrien attempted to convince her that he would be fine, but Marinette stubbornly refused to leave his side.

Alya and Nino took their seats and class started. Marinette turned scanned the room, her eyes searching for Lila, but she was nowhere to be seen. Marinette gave Alya a nudge and whispered,

"I thought Lila was coming back today?"

"I don't know." Alya replied flatly.

"What's wrong?" Marinette asked, concerned at Alya's mood.

"That was really uncool what you did to Nino then-" Alya whispered back to Marinette. Marinette tried to protest but Alya continued. "Those headphones mean a lot to him, and you just blew him off for Adrien- not cool Marinette."

"Girls, quiet please." Miss Bustier interrupted, making the girls turn their attention back to the lesson.

A few moments later, Marinette felt her stomach dip-guilt. She glanced over at Alya, who looked plastered with worry, before following her friend's gaze to Nino, who was seated in front of her. He seemed to be attempting to fit broken pieces of metal and plastic together. Every now and then, he would pause and let out a sigh, but each time he seemed more determined to solve the puzzle of his damaged headphones.

Marinette felt horrible for what she had unconsciously done, but she felt worse for not realising. Marinette always tried her best to be an amazing friend, she put their needs above her own and loved each and every one of them for their flaws. But right now, in the middle of class- Marinette felt like a bad friend for the first time in her life. What kind of friend puts their boyfriend above her best friends?

As class continued, Nino grew more and more visibly upset, sighing and tossing parts onto the desk. The pieces wouldn't fit together, and he knew that without his headphones, he wouldn't have any inspiration.

Suddenly, Nino noticed something out of the corner of his eye...

"Reckless Revenger, I am Lady Darkmoth, the new holder of the moth miraculous."

Pain spiked through Nino's head as the sound of the voice swelled in his ears. He grabbed at his head, attempting to block the voice out.

"Nino?" He faintly heard someone say from behind him. It was Alya.

"Your so-called friends have done you wrong, I grant you the power of punishment to get revenge on their reckless mistakes. All I ask in return is Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous, do we have a deal?" The voice asked him.

"Marinette he's been akumatized!" Nino heard Alya say through the pain.

"Alya-" Nino whimpered, ignoring Lady Darkmoth's voice and battling the urge to give in.

"What how?" Marinette yelled, jumping into action and approaching Nino.

"Reckless Revenger, do we have a deal?" Lady Darkmoth asked again.

"NO!" Nino yelled, startling everyone. Nino's desperate eyes met Adrien's as he continued to fight off the dark magic consuming him.

"Nino, listen to me, you can fight this." Adrien said, ignoring his own prying thoughts of how this is even possible.

"Adrien-" Nino whimpered again, the magic now consuming him. "Protect Alya." He finished, as a cloud of black and purple engulfed him.

Now in Nino's place was Reckless Revenger.

A white toga appeared over Nino's body, the broken muff of his headphones becoming a gladiator sword, so long and heavy that it dragged on the ground as he took a staggering step forward. A blood-red cape flowed off his shoulders, and open-toe roman sandals appeared on his feet. On his head he wore a half crown of laurels, the golden leaves dented and bent.

Reckless Revenger took a deep breath and his head jerked up, revealing bloodshot brown eyes. With a grunt, he swung his sword, narrowly missing Marinette. Marinette jumped away just in time, or at least she thought she had. The wind from the sword swing reached her, and a clear band of air appeared around her middle, preventing her from moving her arms.

Marinette backed up quickly, but tripped on the stairs, falling to the ground. Adrien jumped over his chair, only for another wall of wind to embrace him, leaving Marinette and, Adrien imobile, with Marinette scrambling on the floor to get up.

Reckless Revenger paced towards them, his sword dragging on the ground, and a truly chilling smile gracing Nino's face...