The Other Side of the Mirror -- genderbend

1: Spots and Claws

Marin Dupain-Cheng walked home alone, lost in thought. He was thinking about dropping the macarons (both on the sidewalk and the classroom floor), and about Corey Bourgeois being in his class again, and about meeting Alyo Cesaire. In fact, it wasn't until he was in his room, watching the news, that he saw something odd enough to bring him out of his reverie.

On the screen, a giant stone creature was rampaging around Paris. The police tried to shoot it, but it grew bigger. The head policeman was just talking about calling in the army when he noticed something else: a small, ornate box on the desk in front of him.

"What's this doing here?" he muttered, inspecting it. It was smooth wood and shaped like a hexagon. He didn't know what to do. Slowly and carefully, he lifted the lid. A small red ball of light appeared, and a creature he had no name for materialized over the open box. Inside the box, he saw a pair of earrings.

Earrings?  he thought. Ridiculous.

"Hello, Marin!" the creature said. "I'm Tikki, your kwami. You're the new Ladybug!"

"Wait," Marin said. "How do you know my name? What's a kwami? Why earrings? Ladybug? What's going on?"

The kwami waved off the last half. "No one will notice the earrings; that's part of the magic. Yes, Ladybug. You'll get it when you're transformed. I give the power of creation. When you're wearing the earrings, just say 'spots on' and you'll transform."

"What?" He was so confused.

"Stoneheart"--the kwami pointed at the stone creature on the screen--"is what is known as an akuma victim. You've got to break the object where the akuma is located to return Stoneheart to his normal form."

"Normal form?"

"An akuma victim is someone who has been given powers and, essentially, possessed. When the akuma is gone, the victim will return to normal."

"Um...okay," Marin said. "How do I start?"

*****Adrienne*****

Adrienne Agreste shut her bedroom door forcefully. All she wanted was to go to school, but her mother refused to allow her out of the house. Why couldn't she live a normal life?

She sat down on the couch. Absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't pay much attention to the news, but she saw the box on the table right away.

"What's this doing here?" she wondered, opening it. A small green ball of light appeared, revealing a little cat-like creature and a silver ring.

"Wow, it's like the genie in that lamp in the Aladdin story," she exclaimed, poking it with her finger.

"Hey, kid, I'm Plagg," it said. "I'm a kwami. I grant powers. Yours is the power of destruction. Got it?"

"No," she said, snatching it out of the air. "What sort of powers?"

"I just told you: destruction," Plagg said, shooting out of her hands. "You're a superhero now."

"But what good is a superhero who's stuck in her own house?" Adrienne demanded.

"No good. But that's about to change. Put the ring on and say 'claws out' to transform. Also, you've got a superpower. Shout 'cataclysm' and you'll destroy anything you touch. Careful, though, it's a one-shot thing and you'll only have five minutes before you detransform--the last person didn't know that and their partner had to help them out a bit."

"I have a partner?"

"Yeah. Ladybug. Red Spandex suit with black spots."

"What's my superhero name?"

"Chat Noir. Actually, come to think of it, you're female, so that would be Chatte Noire. If you want. You know what, that sounds too weird. How about Chat Noire?"

"Cool!" Adrienne slipped the silver ring onto her finger. "Plagg, claws out!"

**********

Well, there you have it: two of the AU miraculous holders have their powers! Notice Plagg did a much better job explaining to Adrienne than he did to Adrien. Anyway, now that part's over with, we can skip to a pair of other miraculous holders getting their powers.

I know this wasn't the best chapter, but bear with me!

-Cassie ✪