Path to Fame

1. Bad day.

No one knew what Alya did after school. It was a mystery to everyone, even to Marinette. But not because they didn't know what she did, but because they thought they knew. Making videos for her blog was only a hobby. What she actually did was much more different.

It was Tuesday afternoon, meaning that someone was already training inside the Inbaa-Ye dojo.

"C'mon Cesaire! You can do better! Punch it! Kick it!" An older man exclaimed, maybe in his thirties.

The girl punched the dummy. One, two, three times. She punched it, she kicked it, until her muscles hurt. And still, it wasn't enough.

"I told you she wouldn't be able to handle it." A boy said, loud enough for the brunette to hear.

She clenched her fists and kicked the dummy, hard enough for the chain that held it from the ceiling to break, making it fall.

She turned back to see the boy who had been talking. "You are next, Durand." Alya said, the boy already rolling his eyes.

"Cesaire! Here! Now!" Sensei yelled as Alya stormed off towards him.

"What?!" She yelled back, clearly angry.

"I am this close of kicking you out, Cesaire!" He shouted, making her silence, her eyes widening. "You've been breaking stuff here all week! That is the fifth dummy yet, and we aren't even on Wednesday!" He yelled as Alya looked at the floor.

The boys highfived in the background, chuckling to themselves.

"Look Alya, I don't know what's up with you, but you better fix it. The finals are in a few weeks, and if you wanna stay here, you have to practice harder."

"Yes sensei. I'm sorry." Alya said and walked away.

"Okay everyone! We are going for the real thing now!" The sensei exclaimed. "Durand, you go with Argrenté!" The boys highfived.

"Moreau, you go with Thomas!"

They fist bumped.

"Francois with Martinez!"

They smirked.

"And... Bouvier with Cesaire!"

"No fair! Why do I have to fight the girl?" Collin Bouvier complained.

Alya rolled her eyes. You'd think she would be used to complaints like that. "Why? Afraid I'll beat your ass, Bouvier?" The boy glared at her and scoffed.

"Yeah, sure thing!"

"I'm just saying. Are you that afraid of me? And that I'll beat you in front of the whole team."

"You know what? It is on!" Collin huffed and walked towards the mat.

Alya smirked to herself. If a boy complains, play with his pride. It always works.

"I can fight her if you want, sensei!" Nick Durand offered, while some boys snickered.

"Thanks bro. At least I'm not the one who's going to fight the brat"

"Wha- that's not fair!" Alya exclaimed.

"So who's the chicken now, huh?" Durand asked, making her boil inside.

"Still you." She positioned herself in the mat.

Okay, so maybe he used the trick of playing with her pride on her. And it worked. So what?

"Okay, when I say so, you start fighting, okay?" The sensei said, looking at Alya and Nick. "Ready?"

Alya scowled, while Nick smirked.

"Fight!"

"Didn't think you'd last this long, Cesaire." Durand said while fighting her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, trying to tackle him at the same time.

"You don't belong here. Go back to writing on your blog." The boys laughed.

"You think I'm afraid of you? You self-aggrandizing jerk?"

"Using long words doesn't make you look tougher." He kicked her leg, making her lose her balance.

"You are weak." He made another move.

"Pathetic." He tackled her.

"Go home Cesaire." He said, as she landed on her face.

Alya didn't know what to do. Cry? Scream? Yell?
But there was one thing she was going to do, and so she did. She stood up.

"Cesaire." The sensei said.

She launched herself towards Durand.

"Cesaire!"

She grabbed his hand.

"CESAIRE!"

And threw him all the way back to the wall.

"ALYA CESAIRE!" She glanced back at the sensei.

"YOU WANT ME GONE?! FINE BY ME!" Alya yelled. She grabbed her bag and like that, she stormed off the dojo.

"Alya come back here!" The sensei yelled.

But Alya didn't turn back. She kept walking, walking, and walking, until she reached her house.

***

"Alya Cesaire what the hell happened to you?!"

She should've begged her parents more. But no, she still had to go to school.

"I'm fine Nino, it's just a scratch." She insisted.

"Alya you have a black eye! What the hell were you doing yesterday?!"

"I already told you!" She crossed her arms.

"I want the truth Alya!" Nino said.

"I told you! I fell down the stairs while writing on my blog! Why can't you believe me?!"

"Alya there are no stairs in your house!" He yelled back.

She mumbled things under her breath in a foreign language.

Nino stood there with his arms crossed, glaring at Alya.

"I was worried about you, but you don't want to tell me what happened to you. Fine. Lie if you want. Good to know you trust me." And he walked away.

She stood there, staring at him walk away. What neither of them realized was that there was an old man in the background, watching the whole scene.

"Why her, master?" A green kwami asked the old man "She isn't like Chat Noir nor Ladybug. Why do you think she's worthy?"

"You remember when we gave the cat and the ladybug miraculous, right?" The old man asked the kwami.

"Of course master."

"You remember the girl was having trouble. She didn't believe in herself. But after she got the miraculous, she began having confidence. Just like the boy, who couldn't be himself. With the miraculous, his true colors slowly began showing."
He stated. "This girl needs our help too. She needs to discover that she isn't alone."

The kwami nodded.

***