The Storyteller (Miraculous Ladybug FanFic)

Chapter 1

Marinette couldn't believe her luck. Since she was out fighting during the last few hours of school, she was given extra work as punishment as well as detention for the next week. More than enough time for Chloe to obsess over Adrien. She laid her head down on her desk and sighed.

"I know its tough to manage your life between Ladybug and being a student," Tikki said, "but you can't let a little detention get you down."

"But if I go to detention, Chloe will totally take Adrien away from me!" Marinette sat upright and looked at all the work she had. A four page essay on France's involvement in World War 2, a twenty page reading on literature, and two math lessons, both she doesn't have a handle on. "Why do I get punished more than Chloe? She misbehaves more than anyone!"

Tikki landed on the desk and sat down on the edge of the math textbook. "Why don't we organize our work based on how much there is? That way, you can take care of the hardest part first and finish off with easy stuff?"

"That's actually a great idea," Marinette said with a soft smile. "What would I do without you?"

Tikki giggled. "Be a normal student?"

The two of them laughed and prepared for the work ahead.

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Adrien finished the essay and leaned back in his chair. As soon as he started to stretch, his cell phone started to ring on his desk. He picked it up and read the caller ID. Nino.

"Hey, Nino," Adrien said. "What's up?"

"Dude, Alya is totally crazy right now." Nino said. "She has been ranting to me about how she is really annoyed that Marinette has so much work just because she missed the end of class."

"I understand her frustration," Adrien said as he rested his elbows on his desk. "I don't understand why she has that much work either. It's ridiculous. All of that due by Friday? How can anyone do that?"

"I know I wouldn't be able to," Nino said with a chuckle. "I wouldn't do it until last minute and get a D on it."

Adrien laughed. "Sounds like you, alright."

Nino laughed. "Well anyway, I've been trying to calm Alya down but nothing has been working. Can you help me out?"

"Sorry, Nino. I'm not an expert with women."

"Says the guy who not only gets all the girls staring at him but also tried to help me on my date with Marinette."

Adrien let out a nervous laugh. "I never said I was a professional. I just told you to be yourself."

"Uh huh. Well, any ideas?"

"Why not take her to that new ice cream shack? I heard the ice cream is cheap and delicious."

"Sounds good, man. I'll try it out. Thanks!"

Nino hung up and Adrien set his phone down on the desk. "At least he has something to do today."

Plagg flew out from Adrien's hair and sat down on the desk. "Why don't we go patrol the city? Maybe we can meet Ladybug somewhere?"

Adrien sighed. "Alright. Let's do it."

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Tyler ran into the publisher's office and slammed his manuscript on the secretary's desk. "Tyler Ohm," he panted. "I'm here to see Trent Hills."

The secretary typed something into her computer and adjusted her glasses. "You're right on time. Go ahead and see him."

"Thank you."

Tyler walked into the door down the hall to the right and shut the door behind him. At the back of the room was a wide wood desk with a pale and skinny man sitting in a swivel office chair. The man looked tired and his hands were steadily shaking. No surprise, his old age matched with his service in the police force made it hard for him to act like a normal human being.

"Mr. Ohm," Trent greeted with a weak smile. "You finish your manuscript?"

Tyler nodded. "I'm sorry it took so long. I had a hard time coming up with a good concept I could write about." He handed the manuscript to Trent. "I hope it exceeds your expectations."

Trent picked up his blue glasses and set them on his face so he could read the text. "Polar Utopia: The Peaceful War?"

Tyler nodded. "The story is about how a Utopian society becomes at war with another nation. In order to save the Utopian society, a negotiation team and a special forces squad have to try to convince the other nation to avoid conflict through peaceful means and the elimination of high value targets."

Trent nodded. "Sounds interesting. I'll read it over the next few days. Come back Friday morning and we'll talk about how I feel about the story."

"Thank you, sir," Tyler said with a smile. "I hope you'll agree to publish it."

"I hope so, too."

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Cat Noir sat on the edge of the building across from Marinette's house and looked through the window. Marinette was sitting at her desk working at the homework she was given with a frustrated look on her face. He sighed. "If only I could help her," he said.

"What's stopping you?" a dark voice asked.

Cat Noir drew his staff and spun around. "Who's there!?"

The voice let out a slow laugh. "I'm not even there. I'm just talking to you telepathically with one of my akumas."

"Hawk Moth!"

"You got me. What would you like for a prize?"

"What do you want!? Why are you talking to me!?"

"Calm down. I'm not trying to fight you. I just want to ask you, what is stopping you from helping your friend? Or should I say, classmate?" Cat Noir gasped. "That's right. I figured out your little secret..."

Cat Noir started searching for the akuma. "How did you figure it out?"

"For a superhero who claims to be the best, you sure don't keep watch over your secret too well. There may be a lot of reporters from outside the city who live here for the drama, but if you just look through the civilians of this town, you can easily pick out the odd one out. For instance, you're about the same age as a junior high student, eliminating over half of the population. Next, you are blonde. Very few people here have spiky blonde hair like yours. And finally, what if I told you, that someone you know, had discovered your miraculous and just made an assumption?"

Cat Noir paused. "Someone saw it and made a guess?"

"That's right, Adrien. Someone saw it, made a guess, and I just took their information as a fact." Cat Noir gripped his staff tighter and swung it behind him. The akuma barely glided over the swing and flew higher. "Such a shame, too. Turns out the Great Cat Noir is just a rich boy who hates his luxury. I was expecting a more middle class kid who loved to flirt with the local girls, but I guess that was just my imagination."

"So what do you plan on doing with that information, huh? Attack me in my sleep?"

"Although that was my first thought, I decided against it. Where is the fun in just taking it while you sleep? Its more fun to just send akumatized slaves at you and watch you struggle to fight back. I'll consider the option, but just remember, I can akumatize anyone, both the guilty and the innocent."

The akuma flew away in a hurry, leaving Cat Noir gripping his staff tighter, wondering what he will have to do to protect himself from Hawk Moth.