Miraculous One-Shots

Marionette (Part 2)

Adrien looked up as the poor brunette floated there. Her eyes looked lifeless and her skin was pale. Her hair thinned and spread out behind her, making her look like a ghost you would see in a horror movie. Adrien grunted and ran behind a tree. He couldn't bear looked at the brunette or Marionette anymore.

"Plagg, looks like you can't enjoy your sweet treat."

Plagg scoffed, "I ate that 5 minutes ago. Keep up, Adrie—"

Plagg was cut off by Adrien's transformation sequence: "Plagg, claws out!"

Cat Noir ran up from behind the tree and grabbed his staff from his belt.

"Everyone, get out now!" he shouted at the crowd.

Everyone scampered like mice. Sadly, most weren't fast enough for Marionette's beams. They wrapped around Mr. Damocles and Lila. She touched both of their faces, causing them to both become almost identical to the brunette's state. Through Lila, Marinette's voice was heard, barely above a whisper. Luckily, Cat Noir's ears could pick it up.

"I don't need her anymore." Marionette snapped her gloved fingers, sending the brunette crashing to the floor. Cat Noir leaped, catching the girl before she could hit the ground. He set her down on a bench as fast and gently as possible and pounced away as Marionette shot a pink beam at him.

"Come on, Kitty. You know you can't defeat me. Just give me your miraculous. I already have the ladybug miraculous. You should just give up. You are nothing without Ladybug, after all." These words came out of the mouth of the principal, who was floating off the ground like the brunette.

Cat Noir froze at her words. The thoughts raced through his head like a roadrunner. This was a fatal mistake. Marionette's rope-like beam wrapped around his body, pinning his arms to his sides. With her full focus on him, the other two bodies slowly dropped onto the floor.

"Marinette, stop. Please, you know this isn't right. Don't give in to Hawkmoth."

"I want justice, Kitty. I'm tired of this witch's lies. I'm tired of this stupid principal taking her side all the time. So why don't you give me your miraculous without any complications?" This didn't come out of the puppets' mouths. This was a hoarse whisper in the air. An echo. Only meant for the superhero's ears.

Cat Noir struggled against the tight beam around him. His hand wrapped around his staff. He extended it, causing it to hit Marionette's hand, the one that was clenched close. She hissed and pulled the hand back, completely losing focus and releasing Cat Noir, causing him to crumple on the ground. He rolled out of the way as Marionette tried to regain control. He noticed how defensive she was about what was in her fist. Cat Noir remember his first ever victory with Ladybug. The akuma was in Stoneheart's fist. This had to be the same case. Cat Noir extended his staff.

"I'm sorry, Marinette," he reeled his staff back and and swung, the staff making contact with her waist. The force threw her back, causing both hands to open, causing whatever was in them to drop. Marionette struggled to get up, feeling winded from the blow. Cat Noir ran over to the general area and scanned the ground for anything she might've dropped. He couldn't spot anything. Luckily, the sun was shining bright. Its rays left reflections from the object. Noticing Marionette getting up, Cat Noir grabbed the shiny object. He spotted another one and grabbed it as well. He briefly glanced at them, about to destroy them. Instead of using his cataclysm on them, he stopped and ran away into an empty alley. What he had in his hand wasn't an akuma. It was a miraculous. The one Ladybug lost. The earrings. Marionette wasn't lying. She had defeated Ladybug. Cat prayed that she was okay and muttered his de-transformation sequence.

Plagg groaned, "there's an issue, Adrien."

Adrien pulled out some camembert, "obviously," he handed it to Plagg, "Ladybug's been defeated. If she lost against Marionette, how can I win?"

"I don't know. Ask Tikki or something."

Adrien rolled his eyes and pulled off his ring. He placed it in his pocket along with Plagg's camembert. He put the earrings on his ears, causing Tikki to form in front of him.

"Tikki!" Adrien rushed, "is Ladybug okay? How am I supposed to defeat Marionette when she couldn't?"

Tikki hesitated, "she—she'll be fine. She's mad at herself, but she'll be okay. Become Misterbug, Adrien. You need to de-akumatize Marionette. The akuma is in her ribbon."

"Why can't you just take the earrings to Ladybug?"

Tikki shook her head, "I can't. Trust me. We don't have much time."

Adrien let out a puff of air, "alright. Tikki, spots on!"

Mister Bug ran out and hid behind a bench, watching Marionette play with the people she had gained under her control at the time of his absence.

Mr. Damocles' mouth moved along with the feminine voice coming out of his mouth, "I'm tired fo your lies, Lila. You will be banned from all field trips and I'm suspending you for 16 days."

Lila's body twisted itself so that she looked like she was crying. Marionette's voice mock-cried out of Lila.

"Aye!" Adrien called, "why don't you fight someone your own size?"

Marionette's eyes scrunched up at the sight of him. Lila's body came up and flew in front of him, "you ran away like a scared cat only to come back as a pesky bug? You're never going to beat me, Cat Noir. Or should I call you Mister Bug? No matter what costume you wear, you will never defeat me."

"We'll see about that," Adrien muttered, "lucky charm!"

A unwrapped stick of butter fell into his hands.

Lila laughed, "absolutely pathetic."

You're a pretty simple guy.

Mister Bug smirked, "catch," he threw the stick of butter. It flew through the air and at Marionette. She caught it, causing Lila's body to drop onto the floor. While she was dealing with the melting butter in her hands, Mister Bug wrapped his yo-yo around a lamppost and swung behind her, ripping the ribbon out of her hair and tearing it apart. The akuma fluttered out and Mister Bug captured it in his yo-yo, removing all the negative energy. Everybody rubbed their eyes as they came back to their senses. Marinette groaned from the floor.

"What happened?" she asked

"You were akumatized, Marinette," Mister Bug said, "but it's alright now."

He helped Marinette up to her feet and Mr. Damocles approached him.

"Mr. Damocles," Mister Bug started, "the macaron Lila ate was bought from elsewhere. She must've bought it before coming here."

Mr. Damocles nodded, slightly skeptical, "are you sure?"

"I'm positive," he turned to Marinette, "hope I see you again, little lady," he ran off, overhearing Mr. Damocles apologize to Marinette behind him. Mister Bug tucked into an alleyway and removed the earrings and put the ring back on.

"You can take this back to Ladybug, right, Tikki?"

Tikki nodded and grabbed the earrings in her hands, "thank you, Adrien."

Adrien smiled, "my pleasure."

Tikki flew off, the earrings glinting against the sunlight.