Gotham's Own Ladybug

Thirteen

Marinette spun her yo-yo in vigorous circles, a habit she couldn't help but perform after numerous years in the spots. The weapon became a red blur, almost imitating a shield.

"Hello..." Nightwing started, hesitantly taking a step forward after the greeting.

Ladybug felt her body stiffen slightly, as she subtly scanned about for an exit. The roof she was currently on - along with the vigilantes - was open to the sky, having short walls at the edges. The realisation made her let out a small sigh of relief.

"Are you another meta?" Nightwing questioned, causing the girl to meet his gaze all of a sudden with hers.

That was when she noticed that his eyes were fixated on the turning yo-yo in her grip.

Marinette slowed down the spinning, gradually letting the weapon's rotations travel to a halt. When they finally stopped, she placed the yo-yo back at her hip again, as she felt it click into place on the red string there.

"I'm afraid I'm not," answered Ladybug. She caught sight of Red Robin's mask creasing - where his brows would be - from his position at the opposite end of the roof.

Nightwing held his arms up in a placating action, whilst saying, "Listen, we're not going to harm you. We only want to know what you're doing here."

In the corner of her eye, she saw Red Robin come forward, and, as a response, the heroine inched back. The instinctual movement caught both Robin and Red Hood's attention, who were looking in silence from afar.

"I...I swear I'm not here to cause any trouble," she replied. "I'm just trying to get home."

The oldest there nodded in understanding. He spoke, "Would you be okay telling us where you live?"

She didn't know what it was that prompted her to scoff, but surprisingly, she did. What followed after were the words, "As if I'd do that," beneath her breath.

Walking behind at a slow pace, her eyes flickered between the quartet closing in on the direction she was headed.

"Merde..." Marinette muttered, though the curse was lost in the wind. She twisted her body around quickly, feeling the wings spanning her back twitch in anticipation as she proceeded to fling her body off of Wayne Enterprises.

Footsteps sprinted nearby. Several grappling hooks shot out to neighbouring structures, while one latched around a lamppost straight beneath her suspended form.

Robin landed on the pole, looking straight up at Ladybug. She narrowed her eyes, reaching for the yo-yo at her hip, and threw it out into the distance.

The sound of it zipping showed that it was soaring through the air, making Marinette sigh thankfully. When it wrapped around a pillar high above, her nimble fingers tugged, just before she came to Damian.

Wind unsettled her usually neat locks. A slight drizzle stuck the loose strands to her face.

The female sensed a person to the side, and, sure enough, she sent seething glares to Red Robin and Nightwing a rooftop over. The older one merely grinned with a miniature wave.

A groan escaped her mouth. Ladybug leaped up a second time into the sky, soon swinging in a practised way to where her home was.

However, her travel was interrupted as a Batarang made contact with the surface of her yo-yo, unlatching it from a balcony rail. Letting out a shocked yelp, she just about managed to land safely on the cement below, but not without a few scratches to her face.

The spotted hero picked herself up off the ground. Her ladybird wings folded back into their set place - flat on her toned back.

None other than Red Hood jumped in front of her with a gun held out. She didn't even flinch at the sight, as her gaze was instead focused on the Gothamites crowded around.

A dozen or so had their phones held out, taking videos with awed smiles gracing their features.

"So, Pixie!" the man called aloud. "You wanna give yourself up or fight?"

Grumbling inaudibly, she shouted in reply, "None of those, obviously!"

Three other males suddenly appeared beside Red Hood, causing her to stumble a little. Robin fought off the urge to let his lips twitch in subtle amusement.

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you run about unmonitored," Nightwing apologised, and his tone seemed sincere enough. "We won't do anything bad, trust me. We just want to know-"

"And I'm sorry about this too!" Marinette cut in with a pained expression, before chucking her weapon at the man.

Red Robin smacked it away from Dick with a spin of his staff, leaving the men in offensive stances against Ladybug. She angled her body the same in accordance.

They charged at one another, clashing together in a fight that clearly was biased. The heroine's yo-yo managed to knock back those who came into contact with it, making the battle a whole lot easier for her.

"Désolé, désolé," she whimpered quietly each time one of her punches and kicks landed harshly on the boys. "Je suis tellement désolé."

A particularly hard blow made a ripple of pain spread from Robin's cheek, as he moved back and held it with a gloved hand. He suddenly spat out a wad of blood off to the side.

"J-Je ne voulait pas dire trop," Marinette said with a wince, seeing her three opponents face their brother worriedly.

At the distraction, she zoomed away in the opposing direction, throwing her yo-yo upwards when she sensed them following behind. Her body was brought into suspension in a flash.

"C'mon, c'mon," the young one muttered desperately.

When the time came, she snatched a glance back at Red Hood, Nightwing and Red Robin, who were in the middle of swinging to her whilst in the air. A grin spread across her face.

To their confusion, she flung her yo-yo at a thin bridge, swinging under it. Then, pulling on the weapon string with a grunt, she allowed her whole body to fly up, as she soared backwards in the direction she had come from.

Ladybug performed several flips in the air, letting the somersaults and acrobatic moves stretch out her sore limbs.

With a grin, she tapped at her mask, making a pair of rose gold spectacles form out of nowhere. She held both arms out, saying, "Kaalki, Tikki, unify!"

~*~*~

Bruce watched as splodges of brown leather formed on her costume, and her onyx hair morphed into two braids that connected further down her back.

Marinette made her way to an abandoned apartment roof, not aware of the Dark Knight lurking nearby. She held out a hand to a wall, commanding, "Voyage!"

Swirls of turquoise expanded there, until they became the right size for a human to fit through. The hero adjusted the glasses on the bridge of her nose one final time, as she took a step through the portal.

Batman stood for a few moments, before placing a hand to his ear.

"Agent A," he called. "Check the security cameras at Gotham Academy from just after the school day ended."

"And why would that be, Batman?" Alfred quizzed politely.

"Clearly Robin's new friend isn't who she seems to be. And I'm curious as to what, or who, brought her here in the first place."

~*~*~

"You were right, Xuppu. My Princess is in America," Adrien mused, watching live footage from his phone.

It showed a spotted woman battling four men, clearly apologetic of her actions. Her yo-yo whacked at them repeatedly, pushing them away whilst she edged backwards from the attacks sent her way.

The teen switched his device off, turning to the two kwami floating behind him. They both had their heads down, yet gazed up when their owner said, "Now, I believe it's time to get her back, wouldn't you agree?"

Plagg hissed threateningly, though Adrien payed him no mind. He simply strolled over to his computer, clicking on a few tabs.

"It was easy enough to fake a vacation to the press for my father," he revealed. "I wonder how hard it would be to plan a trip for myself to Gotham?"