lucky charms
❛ ii. stoneheart ❜

━━━━━ CHARLOTTE FELT LIKE the shittest person alive. not physically, at least. in truth, she felt perfectly fine physically; the fight with stoneheart hadn't tired her at all. maybe it was some more magic tikki could do while she was in the earrings.

no, charlotte felt like shit because she felt like she was a horrible person. it was like this hollow wringing in her chest. she had let everyone down; the people of paris, cat noir, tikki, her parents. charlotte had failed. she hadn't done the job properly and now people were suffering because of her.

tikki told her she was chosen for a reason, but charlotte was certain there was someone out of the millions in paris that could do a better job than she. and she already had a pretty good idea of who could make a better coccinella — or whatever name she chooses next.

charlotte grabbed the hexagon-shaped box on her way out of her bedroom. she stuffed the brown box into a small pocket on her backpack, slinging the bag over her shoulder. all she had to do was silently sneak the box into the bag and then this wouldn't be her problem anymore.

before she left for school, her father insisted that they stopped to watch the news. "the stone beings are scattered all over paris, and for the time being, they are showing no signs of movement," said nadja chamack, motioning to the variety of photos behind her. charlotte's stomach dropped as more and more pictures of frozen stone beings appeared on screen. "police have cordoned off the area."

the mayor of paris was the next to speak; "we won't stop until we find a way to get these people back to their normal selves, but for now, we're not making much headway."

nadja chamack came back. "paris is relying on our new gardian angels — coccinella and cat noir — to save us all. our lives depend on them."

charlotte held onto the strap of her backpack tighter. "how are they so sure coccinella — i mean, coccinella and cat noir will be able to do anything?" she asked her father. "coccinella wasn't even able to help ivan yesterday, how can she help all these people?"

charlotte's father, fiorenzo, placed a hand on her shoulder. "there's no need to worry, charlie. they'll be able to figure this all out. coccinella and cat noir are looking out for paris. the best way to help them is to show we're not scared and that we believe in them. isn't that what i always tell you before a game?"

it was. despite the many, many times charlotte wanted to leave volleyball and never play another game, her father always helped her find why she had fallen in love with the sport. he was her biggest supporter, and that was one of the best ways he could ever help her; by supporting and believing in her.

"c'mon." fiorenzo ushered charlotte and emmaunel out of the front door. "you don't want to be late for your second day, do you?"

🐞

lycée françoise dupont loomed over her like some murderous villain. charlotte hated school. not that it had done anything particularly bad, she just didn't like school.

she and alya walked in together, charlotte smiling nervously as her friend talked on and on about coccinella and cat noir.

"ladyblog," alya told charlotte excitedly, handing over her phone. "'bringing you all the latest news about the coolest superhero, coccinella.' how awesome is that? check out the number of views since i posted the video!"

"you trust her?" asked charlotte, handing the phone back over.

"of course i do," said alya, as if it was the easiest thing. "not many people would be able to do what she did yesterday. she can handle it."

"but what if she can't?" charlotte said. "what if she's not cut out to be a superhero like everyone thinks?"

alya looked at her a little closer, shutting off her phone. "charlotte, what are you on about? oh, wait — you're scared, but don't be! i've seen her with my own two eyes, girl! coccinella is a true superheroine! she's going to protect us all! i believe in her."

alya started to walk off, heading for class. briefly, charlotte glanced over her shoulder, where she had hidden the hexagon-shaped box with a pair of earrings inside. before her friend could get too far, charlotte hurried after her. as the two were heading for miss bustier, a cluster of people caught their attention.

"so you really don't remember anything?" asked alix, staring at ivan.

"you were totally going ballistic," juleka said. "it was so cool!"

"you were seriously out to crush me, dude!" kim added, staring at ivan suspiciously. "not cool at all."

the tall boy glanced at kim apologetically, his eye latching onto mylène, who was standing behind the group nervously. ivan's eyes softened, as they always did when he looked at mylène.

"i'm sorry ..." he said, sitting on the bench heavily. he held his head like it weighed a thousand pounds. "i wasn't myself ..."

chloé, who was leaning against a pillar nearby, scoffed. "once a monster, always a monster," she sneered scathingly.

ivan swallowed heavily, looking between anger and tears. before he could say anything, he stood up from the bench and stormed away. the group that had been surrounding him watched warily, as if afraid he would suddenly turn into stoneheart.

chloé didn't care, which was typical for her. "don't let the door hit you on the way out!" she taunted as ivan disappeared into the boy's locker room.

alya rounded on chloé angrily. "how could you say that to ivan?" she demanded. "you're the real stoneheart!"

"so i'm the one who broke sabrina's dad's arm, am i?" countered chloé. "just because your footage of those lame superheroes was shown on tv, doesn't mean you have to get so high and mighty." she blew a bubble out of the gum she was chewing and popped it right in front of alya's face.

the girl scowled. "you fucking —"

chloé was grinning like it was all entertainment. "look out, she's angry! she's going to split her underwear and turn into a huge, muscly monster!"

alya huffed heavily and stormed off. charlotte looked between her friend and the direction ivan had stomped off to. the black-haired girl gave chloé a disgusted look before running after ivan and into the locker room.

ivan wasn't in the front of the room, but he was hiding behind a row of dark red metal lockers. he had headphones on and charlotte could hear the loud metal music blaring. she shrugged off her backpack and slid down to the floor. ivan glanced at her from the corner of his eye. charlotte smiled at him. when he didn't take his headphones to talk, charlotte put a hand on his shoulder. ivan sighed and took of the headphones.

"what do you want?" he asked.

"chloé's wrong," said charlotte. "you're not a monster. i — i don't know what happened to you for you to turn into ... stoneheart," she said the name carefully, lying slightly as she did know (somewhat) how ivan turned into a stone being, "but what happened wasn't your fault. you weren't in your normal state of mind."

ivan held the headphones tightly. charlotte feared she had misspoke and stepped over a boundary. "do ..." the boy looked at her again, "do you know what happened?"

the part-time hero blinked. "no. i don't. i mean, you really don't remember anything?"

ivan shook his head. "i remember the end of miss bustier's class yesterday, when kim gave me that letter, and then miss bustier sending me to the principal's office. but after that ... everything goes blank. then i came back, at parc des princes with coccinella and cat noir next to me."

charlotte tried to stay upbeat despite the depressing information the boy was telling her. "then i'm right," she insisted. "and chloé's wrong. you weren't you — you weren't the ivan i know, the ivan that is sweet and caring — but something else. you're not a monster."

"i get you're trying to make me feel better, charlotte," said ivan. "but you're wrong. even if i wasn't aware of it, i still caused all that damage. i broke mr. raincomprix's arm, i nearly killed kim and alya, i turned all those people in stone beings."

"don't blame yourself, ivan!" charlotte said. "that wasn't you. that was coccinella. she — she didn't do what she could have."

ivan shook his head. "she and cat noir saved so many, charlotte. they tried and succeeded in stopping me."

charlotte's shoulders sagged. she leaned back against the cool lockers, her eyes stopping on the crumpeled sheet of paper by their feet. "is this the note kim gave you?" she asked carefully.

ivan nodded.

"can i read it?" she asked, despite having read it already.

ivan turned red in the face and shook his head. charlotte retracted her hand and put it in her lap.

"kim teased you about mylène again, didn't he?" she said, hoping she sounded like she was guessing and not recalling.

ivan turned redder and sucked in his bottom lip to chew on it. charlotte grinned slightly. the boy always got so embarrased at the topic of mylène.

"you should tell her, you know," she said. "mylène, i mean. about how you feel."

"i don't know what you're talking about," ivan bluffed.

charlotte fought the urge to scoff. "i see the way you look at her. it's really sweet. you care about her a lot. don't think so negatively!" she chided. "i'm sure mylène likes you back. just go talk to her."

"i'm no good with words," he said, shaking his head. "you know that, charlotte."

"who needs words?" she said, shrugging slightly. "you don't have to tell her with words, you could — i don't know — send her flowers, write her a letter, or draw her something. you're a good drawer, aren't you?"

"i could ..." ivan looked at the headphones in his hands, "write her a song ...?"

charlotte grinned brightly. "that's perfect! and totally you. and it's really romantic. i mean — a love song all about you? go for it, ivan! and — uh — stay positive! please?"

ivan stood up quickly, grabbing the paper ball. he ran out of the locker room, already mumbling about lyrics and rhyming words.

🐞

charlotte met alya at the bottom of the staircase that led to miss bustier's room.

"hey, alya," she started inncocently, "wouldn't you like to be a superhero and go fight all those monsters and villains?"

"totally!" alya nodded adamantly. "i'm not scared of anything! why?"

charlotte shrugged. "no reason," she said quickly. she pulled the hexagon-shaped box out of her bag and put it inside alya's, hoping she was discreet as possible. "i'm just curious. you just talk about superheros a lot."

as they walked inside miss bustier's room, a blond boy was crouching beside charlotte's seat, poking at a wad of gum on her seat. the girl frowned and said angrily. "hey! what are you doing?"

the boy stood up, his eyes widening when he spotted her storming toward him. "i — uh — i —"

charlotte's expression grew angrier when chloé and sabrina started laughing. "oh," she hissed. "okay, i get it. hilarious, you three. hilarious."

"no, no," the blond tried to say, "i was just trying to take this off!"

"oh, you were?" charlotte dared, crossing her arms. she glared at chloé and sabrina as they continued to laugh loudly. "you're friends with chloé, right?"

the boy looked at her blankly. "why d'you say it like that?"

charlotte huffed and pushed the boy aside. she grabbed a paper from her bag and put it over the wad of gum, trying not to gag. as the blond shuffled over to his seat opposite of the aisle from her (oh, great, she had to be that close to a guy who put a wad of gum on her seat), she glared at him.

alya gave the black-haired girl a sympathetic look as she sat down. "forget him," she advised. "if he's friends with chloé that says everything we need to know."

"you're right," agreed charlotte. "but — maybe i sound crazy, but i've seen him around before. but, like, i don't know who he is."

alya pulled out her phone and typed away. she raised her eyebrows silently, handing the phone to charlotte. "look at this ..."

charlotte tried to keep her jaw from dropping as she looked at the phone. on the screen was the blond boy standing next to a very serious-looking older man. the two were posing for a cover of a magazine.

"i know this man," she said, pointing at the older man. "my mom talks about him all the time. gabriel agreste — he's a famous fashion designer or something."

"daddy's boy, teen supermodel, and chloé's friend," said alya. "he just keeps getting worse and worse."

"i didn't know gabriel agrestse had a son," charlotte muttered, handing the phone back. "i mean — i don't know much about him," she admitted. "my dad worked with him a couple of times. they collaborated on some designs here and there. my parents really looks up to him."

"your dad's a fashion designer?" asked alya.

charlotte shrugged. "on the side. just a side passion, i guess. he mainly helps mom nowadays — she owns a bunch of architectural businesses."

soon, miss bustier strolled in, greeting her class warmly. she took out her roster and started calling names. "agreste, adrien?"

the blond boy stood up, his hand raised high above his head. "present!"

miss bustier smiled at him as the class stifled snickers. adrien sat down, grinning with slight embarrassment as he realized that wasn't protocol.

"bourgeois, chloé?" the teacher called.

the blonde raised her hand. "present."

"bruel, ivan?"

the floor shook violently and the door was ripped off its hinges, flying across the room. charlotte ducked down, covering her head as stoneheart entered.

"present!" the stone monster told the teacher cowering behind her desk. he turned to the scared students, asking "mylène?" loudly.

students screamed as stoneheart inched closer. charlotte snuck further under her desk as stoneheart passed by. alya had her phone out, filming the stone monster. the floor shook as stoneheart went up the staircase, stopping at the second row. charlotte got out of the way, sliding underneath the table and inched towards miss bustier.

stoneheart stopped next to mylène, grabbing her and hoisting her into the air.

"let go of me, ivan!" she yelled.

"i'm not ivan anymore," he said, voice booming around the classroom. "i'm stoneheart."

"why are you doing this?" mylène asked.

"so you and i can be together — forever!"

"daddy," charlotte heard chloé shriek, "the monster is back!"

stoneheart turned around at the sound of her voice, throwing a table out of his way. chloé screamed loudly as the stone monster grabbed her with his other hand and started marching for the door. mylène and chloé both pleaded to be put down as he slammed a hole in the brick wall with his shoulder and jumped out.

charlotte tried to grab alya's arm as she ran for the hole in the wall. the girl filmed excitedly as stoneheart lumbered down the street, his feet leaving craters in the ground beneath him.

"alya!" said the black-haired girl. "we need to go!"

"you're right!" alya nodded and hurried for where the classroom door had been. "let's follow him!"

"that's not what i meant," said charlotte. "i meant we should go find a safe place to hide."

"girl, you're gonna miss coccinella in action!"

charlotte stared at her, a sort of dumbfounded look on her face, like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. she looked at her feet, where alya's blue bag laying, and picked it up. she held it out to alya. "i don't want any part of that 'action.'"

alya shrugged. "if you say so."

charlotte's face dropped as the girl ran out of the room, leaving her bag behind. "alya!" she called. "your bag!"

🐞

it was idiotic to run after alya the way she had, but it wasn't like charlotte had much of a choice. in alya's bag was the ladybug miraculous and alya needed the earrings if she was going to transform.

charlotte ran outside of lycée françoise dupont, skidding to a stop at the road right of the school building. a hoard of stonehearts were clogging the street, picking up and throwing cars. she gasped. those had to be the innocent people turned into stone. but they had been awakened, just like tikki had said. and now they were bending to the will of a very angry stoneheart.

the stonehearts were throwing the cars at cat noir. he leaped out of the way of a silver car, which bounced on its front end before bounding over to alya, who was trying to get out of the way. quickly, cat noir pulled out his silver staff and threw it for alya. the staff redirected the car, so now the silver car only trapped alya.

but saving alya left cat noir open for an attack — it wasn't exactly an attack, as one of stoneheart's minions only grabbed him and started carrying him away.

"let go you rockhead!" car noir shouted angrily, trying to kick the stone being.

charlotte looked back to alya. the brunette had pulled herself to the top of the car but with the way it was angeled, her legs were trapped. charlotte held onto the bag tightly, pulling out the box with the ladybug miraculous inside. she put the earrings on and the pink glow appeared in front of her eyes. charlotte squinted, watching as the light disappeared and tikki replaced it.

the red kwami, tikki, grinned happily when she spotted the black-haired girl. "charlotte!"

"no time, tikki," she said. "alya needs coccinella. i need coccinella."

tikki nodded. "i knew you would come around."

"i haven't," charlotte corrected. "after this, i'm no longer coccinella. but alya's in danger. i can't sit back and do nothing."

"you know what to do," said the kwami.

"tikki, spots on!"

tikki was pulled into charlotte's left earring as a pink light engulfed the girl's body. the light disappeared quickly and charlotte's clothes had been replaced with the red, spotted suit from the day before.

charlotte looked at her hands, covered in the red suit, wondering if she could do what she needed to. tikki's instructions from the day before rang in her mind — find the akuma, break it, and capture the butterfly. she must remember to capture the butterfly this time. she couldn't make the same mistake.

she unhooked the yo-yo around her waist, spinning it around nearby trees and light posts for leverage. charlotte grabbed the yo-yo, pulling back with gritted teeth. the silver car trapping alya shifted and groaned, but moved just enough for alya to slip away.

coccinella reeled in her yo-yo, holding onto it. she stopped by alya, who was crouched beside the car. "go find a safe place to hide," she advised. "it's too dangerous for you to be running around. and no following me to film anything!"

she grabbed cat noir's silver staff, which lay on the street. she took off in a sprint before alya could respond. she reeled her arm back and threw the yo-yo, and the weapon latched to a chimney, and coccinella swung away.

the ladybug followed the trail of stomping stone beings, leaping off each and every head, looking for cat noir. she leaped off one's head, propelling herself off the brick building nearby. she threw cat noir's staff at the leading stone being's hand and yelled, "cat noir! extend it!"

the silver staff slipped between the stone being's fingers and their hand opened soon after. cat noir fell to the ground and rolled away, looking dazed as he hit the ground. he rubbed his head, not noticing the stone beings lumbering after him.

coccinella cursed silently, landing on top of a lamp post, and wrapped her spotted yo-yo around his calf. cat noir barely had enough time to react before she pulled him over to where she crouched.

cat noir dangled from the metal post, holding up his head to smile at the girl. "m'lady, have i ever told you you turn my world upside down?"

"oh — you like jokes, don't you?" coccinella said. when she looked up, she found the stone beings closing in on her and cat noir. she cursed and said, "but you need to work on your comedic timing! let's get out of here!"

coccinella leaped off the lamp post, pulling cat noir along, who let out a lengthy scream. the cat stumbled to his feet afer he rolled across the rooftops, ripping the yo-yo off of his calf. coccinella ran ahead of him, looking at the screen of her yo-yo, watching some news station that was filiming the eiffel tower. stoneheart stood on the monument, screaming at the growing crowd of police below him.

"hey," cat noir called to her, "aren't we going to take care of them?"

coccinella leaped from one rooftop to another, snapping the yo-yo closed. "no. if we want to save them all, we have to save the source. we have to save stoneheart before we can save anyone else."

she and cat noir landed at the trocadéro. the ladybug stood up and pointed to the eiffel tower far ahead of them. "that one!" she said, pointing at stoneheart.

stoneheart bellowed angrily, pushing back the helicopters trying to close in. the police had placed up barracades but there was no way they could stop the incoming stone beings. the mayor of paris, mayor bourgeois, stood beside one of the vans with a megaphone in hand.

"i demand my daughter's safe return!" he said through the megaphone and his voice echoed across the land surrounding them.

as coccinella ran over, she heard chloé call for her father. but stoneheart gave the blonde a disgusted look and said, "you know what? you're welcome to her!"

stoneheart reeled back his arm and launched chloé forward, throwing her in the direction of the police bracade. coccinella screamed and used her yo-yo to propel herself forward. before chloé could hit the floor and break every bone in her body, coccinella wrapped her arm around chloé and rolled across the ground, protecting the blonde from hitting the floor.

coccinella skidded to a stop twenty feet before the police force. they stared at her, as if shocked she could even show her face.

chloé started at the ladybug. "i didn't promise."

before coccinella could say anything, chloé pushed past her and ran for her father. the two hugged tightly. coccinella blinked at them, wondering what chloé was talking about.

roger raincomprix had climbed on top of a white van. he pointed at stoneheart with his uninjured arm. "we're clear to attack!"

coccinella hurried forward, holding out her hands. "no, wait, don't! don't attack! it's only going to make things worse."

sabrina's father sneered at the young hero. "i have a new plan, unlike you. move aside and let the pros do their thing. you've done enough harm, little girl."

coccinella's grey eyes widened. she looked to cat noir, who had stopped by her side. "he's right, you know," she told him, hoping her voice didn't waver. she didn't want to show just how much the man's words affected her. "we wouldn't be here if i had just captured stoneheart's akuma the first time."

cat noir grabbed her arm, giving it some comforting squeezes. "you're wrong, coccinella. and so is he. without you, she wouldn't be here." he nodded to chloé, who was being fawned over by her father. "and without us, they won't make it, and we'll prove that to them. trust me, okay?"

coccinella gave him a grateful smile. "i trust you."

the two heroes whipped their heads over to the famous monument. stoneheart was coughing violently, as if he was trying to clear his throat. his head titled back and a gigantic swarm of black butterflies left his lungs and mouth. coccinella let out a shocked gasp and took a hesitant step away. stoneheart stumbled back and fell to the level below him.

the swarm of butterflies — akumas — morphed and linked together to form a cold face in the flock. "people of paris, listen carefully," said the swarm. "i am hawk moth."

"hawk moth?" coccinella and cat noir repeated in unision.

"coccinella, cat noir, give me the ladybug earrings and cat ring now. you've done enough damage to these innocent people!"

the ladybug's expression hardened. maybe she had made a mistake by not capturing stoneheart's akuma, but she would never make that mistake again. and besides, none of this was her fault. she hadn't been the one to turn ivan into stoneheart; she hadn't been the one to pray upon someone; that was all hawk moth.

"you're wrong, hawk moth," said coccinella, her voice rippling across the space. "but cat noir and i aren't the bad guys here, that's you. you're not going to spin this on us. if it hadn't been for you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into mindless stone beings."

she started walking forward, inching closer to the eiffel tower; inching closer to where the swarm of akumas was. coccinella took out her yo-yo, pointing at the face in the swarm. "hawk moth, no matter how long it takes us, we will find you!" she promised. "and when we do, you will hand over your miraculous!"

coccinella took a running start and used the metal beams of the monument to pull herself into the air. as she had the momentum, she spun her yo-yo around to catch as many akumas as possible. by the time she had landed where the swarm had been, the akumas were gone. coccinella took a deep breath, trying not to look at the fallen form of stoneheart before she turned around.

the girl looked at the helicopters flying closer. she looked at the cameras filming her. "i want to make a promise to the people of paris," she spoke up. "no matter who wants to harm you, cat noir and i will do everything in our power to keep you safe!"

ignoring her shaking hands, coccinella held out her yo-yo and pressed the top, pressing the black spot directly in the center. the wings of the yo-yo were pushed aside as the swarm of purified akumas flew out. the akumas were now a pearly white, no longer able to cause harm and turn anyone into stone beings.

the heroine wasn't able to enjoy the cheers from the people below her as stoneheart started rumbling beneath her. she braced herself and looked over. stoneheart was getting to his feet and mylène pleaded for help.

"you'll never take mylène from me!" stoneheart told coccinella and cat noir, who had landed beside the girl. "come to me, my stone beings!"

the metal monument started shaking as stoneheart's minions started climbing. coccinella looked over nervously, wondering how the hell she was going to save the day. she and cat noir stumbled back at stoneheart lanched himself higher.

"we're surrounded!" cat noir told coccinella nervously. "what do we do now? we can't attack him, he'll only grow larger!"

"you're right," she agreed, "but we know where the akuma is."

"in his clenched fist," cat noir recalled. "the one he's holding mylène with, so ...?"

coccinella sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "so we know that ivan's in love with mylène —" she gasped. "cat noir, that's it! we don't separate stoneheart and mylène, but we bring them closer together! they're made for each other, they just don't know it yet."

she balanced on the railing next to her, using her yo-yo to pull herself higher. cat noir followed after her, saying that he didn't understand what coccinella was getting at. the two scaled the tower, doing their best to keep up with stoneheart.

coccinella made her way to the highest point of the eiffel tower. stoneheart looked at her furiously. he bellowed and the helicopters were forced back.

"help!" mylène called down to them. "i'm scared of heights!"

"everything will be okay!" coccinella promised. "we'll save you!"

cat noir swatted away one of the stone being's hand with his staff. he called up to coccinella, "how are you planning on getting them closer together than they already are?"

coccinella held out her yo-yo for cat noir to see. "by using our powers. lucky charm!"

from the folds of the dotted yo-yo, a parachute appeared. it was in the same pattern of her yo-yo. coccinella caught it was a confused expression.

cat noir screeched as he was launched over her head. "you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked desperately as another stone being chased after him.

coccinella shrugged the parachute over her shoulders, clipping it in the front. "we'll find out soon enough."

she spun her yo-yo in a circle, using the momentum to tie it around stoneheart's right hand. the akumatized look at her with a mix of confusion and anger. "cat noir," coccinella called, "his hand! get ready!"

she wrapped the black string around the bottom of her elbow, pulling back. slowly, stoneheart's right hand started inching closer to his face. before stoneheart or mylène could react, they were kissing.

stoneheart's eyes widened and he let go of mylène. luckily, she managed to grab hold of his finger before she fell for the ground. however, the akuma fell toward the ground. cat noir launched himself off the metal beams of the eiffel tower, quickly matching pace with the akuma. he took his silver staff and hit the paper ball like a baseball all the way back up to coccinella.

coccinella wrapped her spotted yo-yo around the paper ball, reeling it back in. she crushed the akuma in her hands, letting the pieces fall to the ground as a black butterfly squeezed its way out of the cracks.

the ladybug took the red yo-yo, sliding her finger over the pattern on top. "no more evil-doing for you, little akuma. time to de-evilize — what?!"

she looked down in time to see the rocks that made up stoneheart disintegrate, causing ivan to lose hold of the tower. he and mylène started falling for the ground far beneath them. coccinella looked between the butterfly trying to get away and her two classmates.

coccinella made sure the clasp on the parachute was tightly secured before she leaped off the eiffel tower. "cat noir, grab ivan!" she yelled through the wind.

"cataclysm!" she heard him yell as she raced towards mylène.

cat noir grazed the metal with his powers, and a piece of the tower shot out and he grabbed on as ivan raced by him. the cat grabbed the boy by the arm, hanging on the end. coccinella reached mylène and wrapped her arms around the girl as she spun them around so they faced the sky. the ladybug reeled back her arm and shot it out, the yo-yo raced through the air, flying closer to the butterfly trying to get away. the yo-yo snapped around the butterfly, falling back down towards the owner. coccinella pulled the string to the parachute on her back and the fabric was released, immediately slowing her and mylène's fall.

as they landed, coccinella let mylène brace against her. with one arm around her classmate, she pulled out her yo-yo with her free hand. she pressed the top of the yo-yo and a single, white butterfly fluttered out.

the heroine sighed, the adrenaline slowing bit by not. "bye-bye, little butterfly," she muttered so quietly only mylène could hear her.

she shrugged the parachute off her back and tossed it into the air. she yelled, "miraculous ladybug!" and the lucky item burst into a swarm of ladybugs that glowed with a pink light. the swarm spread throughout paris, touching and fixing anything that had been hurt or harmed through the fight with stoneheart and his minions.

coccinella turned around after she heard cat noir gasp. the cat was led ivan over, letting the boy lean on him. cat noir smiled at the black-haired girl. "are you seeing what i'm seeing?"

the ladybug smiled back. "yeah. it's so — so cool. it's, uh, miraculous!"

🐞

coccinella looked between ivan and mylène, hands on their shoulders. "i think you two have things to talk about, right?" she prompted.

ivan gave the hero a panicked look. "oh — i, uh, i —"

coccinella gave him a patience smile. "if you can't talk about it, how about you let mylène read the lyrics you wrote for her?" she grabbed the paper out of ivan's back pocket and held it out to mylène.

she gave the two one last smile before walking away. she stopped by cat noir's side, who was watching them with a smile of his own.

mylène gasped, her eyes roaming the paper a second time. "wow, it's really beautiful, ivan. it's a shame you can't hear them when you scream — i mean, when you sing."

ivan's expression turned apologetic. "i guess my screaming was scary. is that why you ran? i'm sorry. i won't do that again."

the girl smiled widely and hugged ivan. the boy's face turned redder than anything coccinella had ever seen.

the ladybug smiled happily and clapped her hands together. "oh, they're so made for each other!"

cat noir uncrossed his arms and held out his right hand to her. "like us," he told her with a cheeky grin.

coccinella grabbed his wrist as his ring beeped shrilly. she held it out to him, pointing at the ring on his finger. "you hear that? you talk bravely for someone who's about to have their identity exposed. see you soon, cat noir!"

she let go of his wrist, waving goodbye. she unhooked her yo-yo to pull herself to some nearby rooftops to run back home.

🐞

charlotte was happy that it was all over. she was happy that she had managed to save ivan and all those innocent people caught in the crossfire. and happy that she had managed to do her job correctly this time.

but part of her was sad. before she could think about it too much, charlotte just chalked it up to missing the adrenaline boost the stoneheart fight gave her.

she met up with alya outside of lycée françoise dupont, giving the girl a smile as she jogged over.

"did you get your major scoop from yesterday's fight?" she asked alya with a tentative smile.

charlotte jumped as her friend groaned loudly. alya threw her hands into the air with exasperation. "no, i didn't! you won't believe it — by the time i biked all the way to the eiffel tower, it was all over. oh — i'm so pissed!"

she bumped her shoulder with alya's. "don't worry. you'll get your scoop eventually."

the brunette nodded determinedly. "you're right, charlotte. next target: coccinella, an exclusive interview!"

charlotte nodded along. "how do you plan on doing that?" she asked curiously.

"anything i can," admitted alya. "wait — i have an even better idea. finding out who's really beneath that mask."

"uh-huh," said charlotte with a grin. "good luck with that one."

the two walked to their first class of the day, miss bustier, and started to walk over to the first row. charlotte looked around the room, catching sight of the seat she had tried to claim totally empty. she furrowed a brow, debating for a moment. soon, a small smile tugged at her lips and she walked up a couple of stairs and sat in the second row. alya watched her confusedly before realizing what charlotte was doing.

she and alya claimed the second-row seats happily, sharing grins with one another. but before they could get too comfortable, chloé and sabrina walked inside. the blonde scowled as she caught sight of charlotte and alya.

"uh," she said loudly, putting her hands on her hips, "you're in the wrong seats. go on, get lost!"

charlotte interlocked her fingers, giving the mayor's daughter a haughty look. "'all that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good people do nothing,'" she recited what alya had told her the day before.

chloé gave her a 'what the fuck' type of look. "what is that supposed to mean?"

"it means, chloé, that i'm not putting up with your shit anymore," charlotte said, her voice taking on an angrier tone. "and none one else in this room will either! so go ahead and take your shitty attitude and get lost."

their classmates started laughing as the black-haired girl pointed at the seat she had sat in previously. chloé curled her manicured fingers in tightly, glaring daggers at charlotte. she stormed over to the seats, refusing to look at anyone. charlotte glared at the back of chloé's head for a moment before sitting down herself.

alya nudged the girl. "nice job," she whispered.

charlotte shrugged, embarrassed, as a blond boy walked inside. it was adrien, the boy who had been sticking a wad of gum in her seat. he tried to greet her but her expression hardened and gave him a look bordering on disgust.

adrien seemed shocked at her, his face turning hurt and he slumped in his seat beside nino.

alya nudged charlotte a second time. "was that really necessary?"

"did he put gum in your seat?" countered charlotte.

🐞

the part-time hero found herself waiting at the doors to lycée françoise dupont, her phone pressed to her ear. charlotte huffed as the phone call went straight to voicemail. she took a glance at the gloomy sky and the pouring rain as she pressed the call button on her phone.

the phone barely rang once before going to voicemail. charlotte fought back a groan, letting her hands fall to her side. she glanced over her shoulder as she heard approaching footsteps.

adrien agreste stopped beside her, holding onto a black umbrella. he smiled at the girl. "hey," he greeted.

charlotte's face hardened and she defiantly looked away. before the boy could try and start a conversation, she tried calling her father again. and again, she reached his voicemail.

adrien watched as she tried to call another time. "what's wrong?"

charlotte gave him a furious look. "go ask chloé since you're best friends," she snapped rudely.

the blond furrowed his brows. "why does everyone keep saying it like that ...?" he murmured to himself.

charlotte's expression turned curious. she gave adrien a once-over, like she was re-judging him. "what do you mean?"

he shrugged, opening the black umbrella. he held it over the two of them, despite the fact they weren't standing in the rain. "forget it. i just wanted to tell you that i was only trying to take the gum off your seat. i swear. i've never been to school before. i've never had any friends. it's all sort of new to me."

the black-haired girl looked at the umbrella above their heads. her brows furrowed and it looked like a million things were whirling around in her mind. her eyes were the same stormy grey as the skys above. "chloé's really your friend, right?"

adrien nodded. "for a while, she was my only friend."

charlotte regarded him again. she nodded softly, as if coming to a new conclusion. "i'm sorry for snapping at you, then," she apologized. "and thank you for trying to take the gum off."

the blond grinned down at her and held out the umbrella expectantly. charlotte took the umbrella from him, looking confused.

"you were trying to call someone, right?" he said. "and they're not answering?"

"oh — yeah," said charlotte. "i was trying to call my dad but it keeps going straight to voicemail. i guess his phone died or something."

a silver car stopped with squealing brakes in front of the school. adrien waved goodbye and started descending the stairs.

"hey!" charlotte called out to him. "do you want me to give this back to you tomorrow?"

adrien stopped at the back door, shaking his head to her. "no need. and, uh, see you tomorrow!"

the blond ducked inside before charlotte could say anything else. the car sped away, leaving water flying off its tires. charlotte had an odd look on her face as she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

tikki flew out of one of the bag's pockets. "what's that face for?" she asked teasingly.

charlotte rolled her eyes, going down the stairs two at a time. "what face?" she bluffed.

"ah — that adrien boy is really sweet, isn't he?" tikki said, flying after the girl.

"i have no idea what you're talking about!" charlotte lied.

🐞  MAR. 31ST, 2023  /  miraculous ladybug is starting to become my hyper fixation again so expect chapters

(especially because i'm on spring break rn)

i know it feels like charlie is just a stand-in for marinette rn but i promise there is a story for her it just needs time to build

anyways, thoughts?? opinions??