Miraculous One Shot Compilation

Laboratory Wars

This story is AU, it will not line up to cannon.

"I can do it!" Ladybug observed the gap between the buildings. Jumping across the gap onto the next rooftop would be easy; she had practiced it over and over, but that wasn't what had been asked of her that day. Steeling her nerves, she purposely leapt short, twisting her body midair to hit the soles of her feet against the building's outer wall. For a couple of steps, she managed to run along the vertical surface almost as though it were flat ground. She just needed to trust Tikki and she wouldn't fall. A few more paces and she was losing her momentum with every stride. Okay, change of plan - she just needed to trust Tikki that she wouldn't get hurt when she did inevitably fall. Plummeting through the air, she realized it was a lot easier to trust Tikki when her feet were on solid ground.

She felt herself hit the safety net with a gentle bounce - unharmed, despite her reeling head. At least Tikki always came through on employee safety. Supersuit testers were well known within the industry for the occupational hazards; Marinette was lucky to have sustained no major injuries - thus far - in her career.

"Marinette!" Tikki ran down from her observation platform, and over to where her test-subject lay. "Are you all right?"

'Ladybug' peeled the spotted mask, the only part of her supersuit that was purely aesthetic, off her face. "Yeah. Give me a few minutes to clear my head and I'll be fine." She rolled across the safety net and plopped the last few feet to stand by her employer.

Satisfied that her friend and employee was safe, Tikki directed her attention back to the results of the test run - they were not to her satisfaction. "Oh! I'm never going to perfect the formula for running against gravity, especially not before the science fair!"

"It's all right!" Marinette encouraged the distraught inventor. "Even without that, your supersuit design is still the best one out there! You're sure to win the science fair!"

"No, Marinette," Tikki shook her head. "We are going to win the science fair. I couldn't do this without you. You'll be at a disadvantage chasing aerial opponents, but I'd like to see anyone else do better. I'll just have to update the suit next time."

--

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending our annual Parisian Science Fair! Anyone wishing to enter a project in today's judging should proceed to the sign-up tables located along the eastern side of the fairgrounds. Please be careful to list your project under the correct class: novice, intermediate, or master; and subject - we have astronomy, behavioral sciences, chemistry, data analytics, engineering..."

Marinette looked around the fair in awe, amazed at how many people had shown up. It was her first year as Tikki's assistant, and she'd never seen much reason to go on her own before she was a part of the industry. Upon hearing the megaphone announcement, she redirected her course toward the sign-up tables - making her way past a seven-year-old who was demonstrating how to charge a battery with a potato. "We're in master class engineering, right?"

"No, Marinette." Tikki took her product tester by the hand and led her in another direction. "Our project is not for the eyes of the public. Remember all the forms you had to sign for security clearance when you started with me?"

"Oh, right..." Per their written agreement, Marinette was allowed to identify Tikki as her employer and state her position as a 'supersuit tester'. She was forbidden to photograph or video anything while at work, to take any lab equipment outside of the secured testing area without expressed permission, or to disclose the materials or programming contained in her suit. Marinette didn't actually possess the knowledge of how the suit was made, only how to use it, but her unsupervised access to confidential documents required her to be legally bound by the company's privacy policy. Describing individual functions without providing clues for replication was a gray area, but Marinette usually avoided it just to be safe.