The Adventures of Blackwing

Chapter 7: A hero, or just a normal girl?

"Is she okay?" Yuma asked Ladybug. "Yes. She just needs rest. Being paralyzed for that long must've exhausted her." Ladybug said. I opened my eyes to see the two of them standing in front of me. "What happened?" I asked Ladybug. "You were paralyzed by one of the wasps. It took longer than expected to stop Queen Wasp, so that's probably why you were exhausted." She told me. "Um, Ladybug? What happened to my Miraculous?" I asked her. "What do you mean? You don't have a Miraculous." Ladybug said as she pointed to Yuma. "He knows Ladybug. He knows that I'm Blackwing." I said. Ladybug sighed. "You should be thankful I was able to hide you somewhere after you were paralyzed! Hawkmoth could've taken your Miraculous!" She said. "Hawkmoth showed up?" I asked her. "Yes. He came for your Miraculous." Ladybug said as I heard her earring beep. "Here's your Miraculous. Don't do something like that ever again!" Ladybug said as she left.

"Do what again?" Yuma asked me. "I was paralyzed by the wasps in order to protect her!" I told him. I suddenly realized what had happened earlier. "What happened to Shark?!" I asked Yuma. "My guess is, he's at work. I haven't heard from him yet." He said. "I have to go find him!" I said as I ran downstairs. "Zueki! Wait!" Yuma said as I ran outside. I put my necklace on and saw Violet appear in my hands. I put her in my hoodie pocket and ran off to find Shark. I ran back to where he was paralyzed. He wasn't there. "Shark?! Where are you?!" I shouted as my eyes teared up. I already lost my birth parents. I don't want to lose you too Shark! I thought to myself.

"Zueki? Is that you?" It was Adrien. "Why are you crying?" He asked me. "My dad was paralyzed right here! Don't you remember?! I can't find him anywhere! He's gone!" I said. "Zueki! Don't run off like that!" Yuma said as he was running up to me. "Yuma! Shark's gone! He was paralyzed right here and now...he's.." I couldn't even continue my sentence. I was crying too much. "Zueki, you're dad is at my house!" Adrien said. "What?" I said. "After Ladybug and Chat Noir de-evilized Chloe, I came back here and found him. My house was closer, so I took him there." Adrien told me. "Is he okay?!" I asked Adrien. "He should be resting right now, but he's fine." Adrien told both of us. Thank God!

I went with Adrien to go pick up Shark while Yuma went back to the house. "Thank you." I told Adrien. "I don't think I could ever forgive myself if my dad got hurt protecting me. But, Yuma and Shark are the people who would give up their lives to protect someone they love." I told him. "Wait. So, you're adopted?" He asked me. "Yep. We used to live in Japan, but we had to move here because of Shark's job." I responded. "I only live with my father. My mother died about 2 years ago." Adrien told me. "It must've been hard for you and your dad." I said.

"Anyways, we're here!" Adrien said as we arrived at his house. All of my surroundings were familiar since I'd been to Adrien's house the other day. "Father, Zueki has come to get her dad." Adrien said to Mr. Agreste. "He's in the guest room. Would you get him for me Adrien?" Mr. Agreste asked his son. Adrien nodded and went to grab Shark. "So, you may think you got away with how rudely you spoke to me on the phone earlier this week." Mr. Agreste said to me. "But I assure you, I'm plotting something against you. I will take back what is mine." "I'm sorry, can you just show me some evidence or pictures of what you're looking for? And so I can make sure they're truly yours?" I asked him. He didn't answer. Adrien was walking out of the guest room with Shark. "Dad!" I said happily as he hugged me. "Thank you for your hospitality. We'll take our leave." Shark said to Mr. Agreste.

Once the two of us got home, I asked Shark why he was at the school during the attack. "I got off work early today. I heard that a student was akumatized at your school, so I came to see if you were alright." Shark said. "But why did you protect me from the wasps? You could've been hurt!" I told him. "Well, if you were paralyzed, you couldn't have helped Ladybug save Paris. I knew the risk and I took it." I wouldn't have been able to save Ladybug if I was paralyzed earlier. I thought. "Shark! Zueki! What do you guys want for dinner?" Yuma called up to us. "I want curry!" I yelled down to Yuma. "I'm good with that!" Shark called down after me. Let me just say, Yuma makes the BEST curry EVER! I will literally kill someone for it! Okay, maybe not kill, but you get the point. "Zueki! Did you want to invite your friends over since I'm making it?" Yuma yelled. "If it's not a problem, sure!" I said.

"So, your inviting Marinette and Alya like usual?" Shark asked me. "Yea, but I also want to see if someone else can come." I told him, taking a sip from my water bottle. "Who? Your crush, Luka?" Shark said with a smirk on his face. I almost choked on the water and spit it out. "What?! How the heck do you know he's my crush?!" I asked. "Well, you do obsess over his picture when you put it in the yearbook, so I just assumed you liked him." He said. "Shark, you realize that I can't talk, much less EAT, in front of him!" I said. "It's my new friend named Valerie. She moved her a few days ago, so I thought it would be nice to invite her." I told him. "Okay. Make sure you clean up the water you spit all over the place before they come." Shark said as he left. Violet flew out of my hoodie pocket as I was cleaning up the mess I had made. "Violet! You're okay!" I said as I hugged her. "Just promise me that you'll NEVER do something like that again!" She said as she dove into the jar of Snow Caps. "Hey! That's my candy!" I said as I grabbed her from the jar. She had already managed to shove 2 in her mouth. "I'll bring up some of Yuma's curry once my friends leave. Okay?" I said to Violet. "Fine. But if you take too long, I'll start eating the candy again!" She said, jokingly. I laughed as I grabbed my phone and messaged the chat with Marinette, Alya, and Dalia in it.

They all said they were coming. Alya even teased me saying that she would invite Luka."I SWEAR to God Alya! If you invite him, I'll make sure your life is miserable for the next MONTH!" I texted. Then, I heard Yuma calling my name. "I need you to go out and get some spices for this dish!" He said. That was no surprise. I didn't mind going out to get some spices for my favorite dish, so I dressed a little more decent. By which I mean, I put on a flannel, jeans and black boots. I grabbed my bag and the list of spices Yuma needed.

Once I got to the store, I went straight to the aisle with the spices and seasonings. I knew that if I went down a different aisle, I would get distracted with the free samples. Okay, I need paprika and cumin. I told myself as I walked down the aisle. Just as I was about to check out, I spotted Saki. "Saki! What are you doing here?" I asked as I walked up to her. "Oh. Crow wanted to make sandwiches, but we're out of bread. So, I came to pick some up." She told me. "Does Kalin ever cook?" I asked her. "Are you crazy?! Letting Kalin cook is like letting him burn down the house!" She told me. "Right. How come you haven't been at school lately?" I asked her. "Well, Crow and Kalin don't think it's very safe for me to leave the house, after a stranger called me saying, "I won't hesitate to send someone to your house to search for my valuables!" Saki told me. "That same person called me too! I think it was Mr. Agreste!" I said. "There's no way it could've been him!" She said. "I'll tell you about it later tonight! Right now, I need to get home so Yuma can make dinner." I said starting to walk away. "Yuma's making curry?" She asked. "Yes! And I have to get these spices to him!" I said.

Once I got home, I helped Yuma make the curry. Shark isn't very good at cooking elaborate dishes, so he was watching TV. "I swear, if there's an akuma attack right before dinner, I'm going to find Hawkmoth and personally KILL him!" I said as I was stirring the curry. "Well, you don't need to kill him, you just need to take back the Miraculous he stole, right?" Yuma said. "Technically, yes. But I'm sure if I got a few hits on him without his super powers, Ladybug probably wouldn't mind." I said jokingly. "Any ideas on who he really is under the mask?" Yuma said as he was chopping up some potatoes. "We had one suspicion but we couldn't prove it was true before Hawkmoth got away." I told Yuma. "Well, I'm sure you guys will be able to find out who he is soon." Yuma said as he put the potatoes in the curry. The curry was finally ready! And just in time too, because as soon as it was done, there was a knock at the door.