Corey Bourgeois was very distrustful of the box when he noticed it in his room. He watched it warily for half an hour, staying on the opposite side of the room. Nothing happened. After that very uneventful thirty minutes he decided he might as well open it to see what was inside.
The answer to that was a bright yellow ball of light, which cleared to reveal a tiny bee-like creature and a bee-shaped hair comb.
"What the--a hair comb? Seriously?" he muttered, picking it up.
"Don't worry," the little creature said. "Part of the magic is that no one will notice it. It will be invisible to other eyes until and unless you transform."
"Transform? I'm confused--"
"I'm a kwami named Pollen. I grant powers by entering that hair comb. If you don't believe me, ask Ladybug, Chat Noire, Volpine, and Carapace."
"Wait," Corey said. "So now I'm a superhero?"
"Yes," Pollen sighed. "Why does nobody understand this?"
"Shut up." He stuck the hair comb in his blond hair. "Transform me!"
*****Marin*****
It was wild. A month ago, Marin had become a superhero. Now he had a partner, three other allies, and a supervillain arch-nemesis after the item that gave him his power. In fact, here he was, at the top of the Eiffel Tower, with all his superhero allies...eating sandwiches.
"So you just got your powers this morning?" he asked the blond superhero next to him.
"Yes."
"What's your superhero name again?"
"King Bee."
"I didn't know bees had kings," Chat Noire joked from Marin's other side.
"They do now," Volpine said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped mid-word, staring at something behind Marin.
"Ladybug, turn around," Carapace said.
"I told you, not Ladybug! I need a better name than that--"
Then he saw what they were looking at.
A giant cloud of akuma butterflies were hovering in front of the Eiffel Tower. They were in the same shape they had been when Marin and Chat Noire had come to defeat Stoneheart: Hawkmoth's head.
"Ladybug, Chat Noire, Volpine, Carapace, King Bee. You fight valiantly and relentlessly. I admire this. But you are still lying to yourselves. How can you fight together, trust each other, if you don't know who all of you are? How can you even hope to defeat me? I will defeat you, all of you, if it is the last thing I do. I will rule Paris, and you will be but a memory. Prepare to lose to Hawkmoth."
Marin took out his yo-yo and slashed through the cloud once. He caught several of the akumas. The rest flew away. Tapping the yo-yo, he set the harmless white butterflies free.
"What was that about?" Volpine asked no one in particular.
"It's a trick," King Bee said. "We can't know each other's identities."
"I agree with Hawkmoth," Carapace said. "How can we fully trust each other without at least knowing each other's real names?"
"I'm with Bee," Volpine said.
"I'm with Carapace," Chat Noire said. "Ladybug?"
"I don't know," Marin said truthfully. "But seriously, stop with the Ladybug."
"What do you suggest?" his partner countered. "Ladybeetle? Lordbug?"
"They both sound bad," King Bee muttered.
"I'll think about it. For now, just Bug works."
"I liked Ladybeetle," Volpine said helpfully.
"I've got to get home," Marin said. "Bug out."
**********
King Bee! And Hawkmoth is trying to trick the heroes. It's a pretty stupid trick.
What will Marin decide? And what name will he choose for himself?
-Cassie ✪
YOU ARE READING
The Other Side of the Mirror -- genderbend
Hayran Kurgu*This takes place when the miraculous holders are about sixteen. Marin and Adrienne are just your average teenagers--except for the part where they're actually also superheroes with incredible powers. With their friends, Alyo, Nina, and Corey, they...
