Special Talent (Oneshot)

Special Talent

Marinette dug through a box that she had under her desk, full of things from when she was younger. She pulled out a pink yo-yo with a flower on the side. She smiled, and laughed, taking it out. She spun it around on her fingers, and found it was even easier to handle than her Ladybug yo-yo. She played around with it, doing complicated tricks with ease. She remembered trying to do this when she was six, and hitting herself in the head with the thing! Oh, how things have changed.

The next day, at the park, she was still playing with it. Alya and Nino were hanging out on the bench across from her, and Adrien was doing photo-shoot by the fountain, while Marinette sat by herself, playing with the yo-yo. She lay back on the bench, and tossed it up at the tree, and the yo-yo hooked around the tree, staying tight. She pulled on it, getting it back, before quickly maneuvering the string around her fingers into a two-handed star. Adrien had taken a break to get some water, and found his eyes trained on Marinette, and her newfound talent. He never knew she could do that.

Marinette noticed his gaze, so she sat up, and did a weave trick, letting the yo-yo fly over her hands, quickly forming the letter A, before pulling it back to normal. She caught the yo-yo in one hand, and waved to Adrien with the other. "Hey, Adrien!" she said happily. Adrien's face flushed, once he realized that she'd caught him staring. He smiled back.

"Hey, Marinette!" he said back. Alya was watching the scene intently, waiting for something to go wrong, or right, or just for anything to happen at all. Adrien smiled at Marinette, just a few feet away, sitting by the fountain. "So, um... Where did you learn that?" he asked.

"Part-time job," Marinette replied. She didn't even have to lie! Adrien thought for a moment. Part-time job? So, baking, designing, and... Yo-yo-ing? He wasn't sure what it was called, but she was amazing at it! She pulled the string up between her hands, and made the body of the yo-yo bounce off of it a few times, before it went flying into the air, back into her hand.

Adrien watched, with a mix of confusion, amazement, and a strange sense of familiarity. Marinette kept swinging it around the tree, and pulling it back. She would pull her arm back, but then curve her wrist when she threw the yo-yo, letting it fly up, before spinning around the tree. It seemed like he'd seen it before. It was strange. Marinette smiled, but then gasped. What was she looking at?

Marinette looked over, and saw that the bodyguard wasn't doing a very good job. An akuma had appeared, walking up behind Adrien. She quickly took the yo-yo, and swung it forward, tying it around the akuma's wrist. She tugged hard on the string, pulling the akumatized girl towards her, to the ground, which left Adrien out of harm's way. "Go!" she shouted. "Get to safety!" she said. Realizing that she was a bit too in-character, she added, "I'm sure Ladybug and Cat Noir will get here soon!" Adrien's bodyguard grabbed Adrien, and started running. Marinette jumped, and left as soon as possible. She hid behind a bush. Letting her kwamii out of her bag, and throwing the yo-yo in, she said the words. "Tikki, spots on!"

Adrien's bodyguard took him home, against his will. He ran to his room, immediately transforming, and heading back to the park. "Hello, M'lady," he said.

"Hey, Cat Noir," Ladybug said. She gave him a small nod, before returning her attention to the akuma.

A girl, with pink skin and a silver suit, like a superhero's. She had a smile on her lips. She opened her eyes, and they were glowing. She laughed, a high-pitched ringing, and the ground started to tremble. With a snap of her fingers, she was off the ground, and the fountain was floating in the air. Ladybug and Cat Noir found themselves floating as well.

Ladybug quickly noticed a heart necklace on the girl's neck. "Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted, receiving a red and black-spotted jewelry box. She looked around. A metal light-post lit up, and so did Cat Noir. "Follow me!" she shouted, swinging her yo-yo around the post. Cat froze for a second, staring. He'd seen that gesture earlier today. Ladybug snapped her fingers. "Are you paying attention?" she asked. Cat blinked, and nodded, following along. Ladybug pulled herself up onto the post, and swung past the girl, snatching her pendant in the box, yanking it off of the girl's neck. She threw the open box to Cat Noir, and he caught it in his cataclysm, destroying it. Ladybug promptly captured and cleansed the akuma, before setting everything back to normal. She looked at the girl, and she was sitting on the ground, shuddering, with tears already forming in her eyes.