"He's going to be so surprised!" Nino exclaimed. Marinette, Alya, Nathaniel and he were all walking as a group, trying to locate Adrien's house together through GPS. He lived in a very prestigious rich neighborhood that was rather overwhelming. One could practically smell the money reeking from the mansions all around.

"Hopefully his dad will let us hang out," Alya said, blowing into a bubble wand as Nino helped push her in her wheelchair (with the distance they'd gone, her arms had tired out).

"I can persuade him." Nino grinned. He too, had a bubble wand which was sitting in his pocket. The day had begun to cool, as October fall brought chilled winds.

Thinking of October, Marinette said, "Are you guys planning to dress up for Halloween?"

"OOH!" Alya exclaimed, "Yes! I was thinking of making my wheelchair look like a race kart from Mario or something. I think I'll go as Princess Peach."

"That's cool," Nino hummed. "For some odd reason, I want to be a Ninja Turtle."

"Which one?" Alya asked.

"Dunno yet."

"I want to be a fairy," Marinette said with a twinkle in her eyes.

"What about you Nathaniel?" Alya asked the boy who'd practically been invisible the whole time.

"Oh- uh-" his cheeks flushed red, "Not sure yet. I don't know if I'll dress up..."

"You and Marinette should match!" Alya's face lit up, "YOU COULD BE LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR!"

"Only if I can be Chat Noir," Marinette said teasingly.

"I think this is it?" Nino said as they were just about to pass the front gates of a particularly large mansion.

"Damn... I feel so out of place..." Alya muttered.

"Jesus..." Nathaniel said under his breath as they all looked up at the absolute monster of a house.

"Oh! Here's a doorbell!" Marinette said and pressed a button next to the gate. A few seconds later, a camera was pointed directly at her face, having sprung from the wall.

"Name?" the camera said from a speaker below the button she'd pushed.

"Oh- uh- um- I'm Marinette!" Marinnette said, "We're Adrien's friends and classmates, we wanted to uh-"

"We wanted to hang out with Adrien!" Nino shoved his way into the view of the camera. "For his birthday!"

The speaker remained silent, as if calculating something.

"Give me a moment," the voice eventually said. The four continued to stand there awkwardly, waiting for a final answer. After a few minutes, the camera pointed at Nino and began to speak again.

"Your access has been denied."

"Can we uh.... Can Adrien come out of the house then?" Nino asked.

"No. He is busy."

"Please! We just wanna talk to him! Even if it's for a little while!"

"We brought him gifts!" Marinette said, pulling the neatly wrapped gift she'd made out from her backpack. The speaker went silent again.

"Give me a moment," they repeated again and disappeared.

This time they waited even longer until finally, after about ten odd minutes, someone opened the front doors of the mansion and stepped outside. None of the teens recognized her, but all guessed that she was an assistant.

"Adrien will not be joining you this evening," the woman said, having been the same speaker from the doorbell. "But he'll gladly take gifts, and I will tell him you came."

"We can't even say hi?" Nino complained.

"His father will not allow it."

"Well uh... let me just make a note real quick!" Marinette fumbled for a pen and sticky note in her backpack and wrote out a little message on it to attach to her gift which she then handed to the woman.

"Please ma'am!" Nino begged.

"Relax Nino, we'll just facetime him or something," Alya grumbled.

"His father won't allow that either. Adrien is very busy right now, he can't afford distractions."

"What?!" Alya looked like she wanted to stand up from her wheelchair and slap this woman through the gate. "You know what, give us back the gifts!"

"Natalie," said a speaker from the woman's belt. A radio. She picked it up.

"Yes sir?"

"You can leave them be. He'll see them tomorrow."

"Yes sir." She put the pager back. "I apologize for all of this," she said with absolutely no emotion. She then turned around and left, ignoring the teens who were trying to call her back.

"Damn, she took our gifts," Alya crossed her arms irritably.

"We'll just have to try again another time," Marinette said. They turned and left.

On the walk back to the bus stop they'd come from, Nino was entirely silent. This time, Marinette helped with Alya, while he blew bubbles. He looked incredibly distraught.

"Nino... are you ok?" Marinette asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I feel like such a jerk..." Nino said.

"A jerk? But you didn't do anything wrong!" Alya said.

"I was so rude to him when we met! I was never really open to him up until recently! I've literally become the image I made out of him! A snobby, self centered asshole who doesn't care about the feelings of others!"

"But you're making up for it now-"

"Except that I didn't. That damn woman- his damn father wouldn't even let us say hi. I promised we'd get to hang out! I promised him that!"

"Nino... it's ok," Marinette assured. Nathaniel remained silent.

"It's not. This was an absolute shit show!" Nino burst.

"We'll explain everything to him tomorrow, ok?" Marinette said.

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Nino said coldly. It was then that Marinette noticed the black butterfly land on his bubble wand, vanishing upon touch.

"No, Nino! It's alright! You don't need to freak out!" Marinette said, hoping to distract him from being akumatized.

Nino stopped dead in his tracks, falling silent and staring at the ground.

"What's happening?" Nathaniel asked, looking at Nino with confusion.

"He's getting akumatized!" Marinette gasped.

"Yes... Hawkmoth..." Nino said before becoming swarmed in a dark aura that masked his body from view.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Alya said, trying to wheel herself away as fast as she could.

"OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT!" Marinette grabbed Nathaniel by the wrist and together they both sprinted while pushing Alya down the sidewalk as fast as they could.

"HOLY SHIT!" Nathaniel's eyes went wide as he'd glanced back for only a second to see what was once Nino–now with skin colored blue, salmon glowing goggles, and wires or cords attached to his cheeks and into the giant bubble wand container strapped to his back. He held out his now massive bubble wand at his side as if it were a sword, and his hair–now darkish blue–bubbled about like it were animated or even slimy. He wore a colorful jacket and tall dark teal boots.

"OH FUCK!" one of them exclaimed.

"HE'S COMING!" Nathaniel said. Marinette had never heard him be so loud, though he was very obviously panicked here, as was she.

Indeed, Nino was flying toward them, suspended by nothing. He swung his bubble wand out in front of them which caused two massive green bubbles to materialize in front of them.

"Nathaniel!" Marinette tried to stop the bubble from touching him but it was too late. The green bubble had consumed Nathaniel and trapped him like it were a prison, carrying him off into the sky. She could see him screaming and shouting, banging his fists against the walls of the bubble, but she could hear nothing.

"Marinette, leave me! RUN!" Alya commanded.

"WHAT?! NO! I'M NOT CRAZY!"

"YES YOU ARE, NOW GO!"

"NO!"

"MARINETTE!"

Villainous Nino was now hovering directly behind Marinette. He murmured something, swooped his wand and immediately, Marinette was captured.

"WAIT NO!" Marinette slammed his fists against the slightly slimy feeling bubble. It would bend a little but no matter how hard she hit it, she could not get it to pop. "PLEASE NO!"

"Marinette!" Tikki's voice arose from within her purse. She stuck her head out. "You can't get out of this."

"I need to!" Marinette said, looking over Alya fearfully as she herself rose up up and away into the sky. She didn't know Alya could move so fast in a wheelchair, it was as if it were motorized with how fast she was speeding down the sidewalk.

"You have to trust Chat Noir and Carapace, I'm sorry!" Tikki now flew from the purse to come eye to eye with Marinette.

"But what will happen without the miraculous ladybugs to repair all the damage?!"

"I don't know..."

"I will be stuck in a bubble forever!"

"Don't be dramatic! We'll find a way out. I'll go get help."

"What do you mea-" Before she could finish her sentence, Tikki fazed through the bubble and flew off. "Damn it."

Meanwhile, Alya was racing away on her wheels like a mad man. She'd even propped her front wheels up to give herself her fullest potential speed. She saw the bus stop up ahead, with a bus conveniently rolling in. She picked up the pace.

As soon as she neared the bus stop Alya flew from her wheelchair, landing on her one good leg and spinning around with a crutch in hand to wack the akumatized Nino straight across the face. People in the bus were screaming, the people who were waiting at the stop were now running away in fear, and Alya was dueling Nino like swordsmen–a giant bubble wand against a crutch.

"Leave me alone Nino! YOU FREAK!" She shrieked as he yanked her crutch away. She grabbed the other one, still balancing on just one leg.

"It's the Bubbler," he said bitterly.

"THAT'S A STUPID ASS VILLAIN NAME AND YOU KNOW IT!" She grabbed her wheelchair with her other hand and used her weight to hurdle it at the Bubbler.

The bus doors were closing.

"WAIT!" Alya rammed her crutch between the closing door. There was a panicked expression across the driver's face. He didn't care about Alya. He didn't care that the door wasn't shut because there was a girl's crutch jammed into it. He was going to drive.

And drive he did. The bus lurched forward. With tears in her eyes and her heart racing, Alya hobbling along next to the bus still holding the door open with her crutch. The Bubbler went to swing his bubble wand at her but she caught it with her free hand. Holding it above her head, keeping the bubbly soapy substance from having the chance to form her prison, Alya struggled.

"DAMN YOU BUS DRIVER SLOW DOWN!" She twisted her weight on the crutch which opened the door a little more. She threw herself inside, taking a leap of faith from her one good leg and crashing into the bus's stairs. In doing so she let go of the Bubbler, and tossed her crutch up into the aisle. The doors immediately slammed close and the bus sped away.

Alya just lay there, collapsed on the stairs, trying to catch her breath. Tears stung her eyes but never slipped down her cheeks. She was panting, her heart felt like it was going to leap straight from her chest, and now the pain in her arms from moving the wheels of her chair had snuck up to her.

Regaining herself, Alya sat up, reached for her crutch, and used it to prop herself up to stand. She was now in the aisle, eyes glued to the floor, her breath shaking. All the eyes of the people inside the bus were glued to her, she could feel their gaze as she walked down to the back of the bus. She let out a deep sigh before plopping down in a seat at the very back next to a particularly tall man. She felt a sudden stinging of pain in her injured leg.

Something had gone wrong.

She lifted up her pant leg to inspect it. Some... Most of the stitches had viciously ripped open and there was now blood starting to drizzle out. She groaned in annoyance. She must have hit her leg on the stairs when she jumped inside. The bone was likely set back a week or so in the healing process.

"You can use my handkerchief to clean up the blood if you'd like?" said a voice next to her. It belonged to a man with long black hair that nearly reached his midback. He wore a very baggie yellow beanie over his head and similarly matching yellow and orange clothes. He certainly didn't look like the type of person who would carry around a handkerchief.

"Oh- no I couldn't... it would be..."

"I don't mind. It's an old one anyway."

"No, no. I'll be fine."

"If you insist." The man folded his hands together. "That was quite impressive, what you just did."

"Y-yeah, I guess." She was still out of breath.

"How long has your leg been injured?"

"A little over a month now..." Alya sighed.

"What happened?"

"Oh uh..." She didn't want to admit she was Lady Wifi. "It was from an akuma." Technically not a lie.

"So you've had more than your fair share of dealing with akumas by now I'm guessing."

"Oh, definitely," Alya groaned.

The bus was going well over the speed limit but no one really cared. They all wanted to get as far away from the Bubbler as fast they could.

"I don't even know if this was the bus I was supposed to take." Alya put her face in her hands.

"Say, are you interested in superheroes?" the man asked, completely disregarding her comment.

"Uh... yeah. I have a lot of comics and I- well I am a vlogger so I have followed Chat Noir and Ladybug around before. I was there when Carapace made his first appearance!" she began to brag.

"That's great!"

"Really?"

The bus came to a halt.

"Why don't you come with me?" the man asked, standing up. Red flag. That was definitely a red flag.

"This isn't my stop."

"Are you interested in becoming a superhero?" Maybe it was because she was sitting down, but this man looked insanely tall.

"Uhh..."

"I'll explain everything in a bit, but we can't be around other people." Red flag number two.

"No thanks."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a minor."

"What's that got to do with being a hero?"

"Uh-"

"Ladybug is seventeen. Carapace is seventeen. Chat Noir is- well actually he just turned eighteen today."

"How do you know any of that?"

"I'll tell you if you come with me." Red flag number three.

"No thanks."

"Everyone, evacuate the bus. We are discharging it for the time being," announced the bus driver. Everyone got from their seats and headed for the doors.

'Wow. The universe is against me.' Alya thought.

She picked up her crutch and hobbled off the bus after most of the people had exited. She limped down the sidewalk, believing she'd escaped that man, when suddenly he appeared right beside her.

"Going back to my offer-"

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Alya nearly fell over.

"Shhh!" He gently tugged her into an alleyway. Red flag number four. Alya was now in a state of panic unlike the panic she had when facing the Bubbler. "Listen, my name is Trixx-"

"What do you want from me?! I don't have money!"

"I don't want your money."

"WELL YOU CAN'T HAVE MY VIRGINITY EITHER!"

"I wasn't going to-"

"You want my phone? Here, have my phone."

"I don't want your phone-"

"Then what do you want?!"

"I think you're the perfect template for a superhero," Trixx said with earnest eyes. His eyes were... very purple. He slipped off his beanie to reveal two very large fox ears with long, slick black barbs on the end.

"I'm gonna get raped by a furry!" Alya wailed.

"WHY WOULD I DO THAT?!"

"YOU DIDN'T DENY YOU WERE A FURRY!" Alya tried to laugh at her own humor but all she had was fear.

"Listen," Trixx let out a heavy sigh. "I-"

"Trixx, you're really bad at this and you always have been," a voice said from above. Alya looked up and saw a giant woman descending into the alley, floating in the air. Alya nearly fainted.

"Tikki?!" Trixx yelped in surprise. "What are you doing here?! There's an akuma! Ladybug-"

"Ladybug is unavailable so I suggest you make this fast," Tikki said sternly as she landed. Her piercing blue eyes cut through Trixx. 

"L-Ladybug-" Alya whimpered, sliding down the wall she'd leaned up against and falling on her bum. Her head couldn't process what was happening.

"No- wait- I can't just send her out with no preparation!"

"Chat Noir is handling the situation and Carapace is on the way. You have time. Ladybug does not," Tikki said with the same sternness as an irritated primary school teacher.

"Do you have her earrings?"

"No. She must have taken them off though, seeing as I'm in my full size."

"Is she in danger?"

"I hope not. Now, allow me to help. You've frightened the poor girl." Tikki looked down at Alya. "Oh. I do know you."

"W-what?"

"I was originally going to pick you to be Ladybug before I met, well, Ladybug." Tikki shrugged. "And you're Lady Wifi. Trixx..."

"I swear I did not know she was Lady Wifi."

"What's going on?!" Alya exclaimed.

"I'm getting there!" Tikki snapped, "Listen, Trixx and I are both kwamis–immortal beings who can grant powers onto humans through jewelry."

"Uh..."

"I'm Ladybug's kwami-"

"And I'm the fox kwami of illusion!" Trixx said joyously. "I can give you the power of illusion-" as he said this his hands began to glow orange and images of doves formed, fluttering about Alya's head before he waved his hand to make them disappear, "and you can have the ability to make people see their worst fears! You can literally tap into their heads to discover the thing that scares them the most! It's great for pranks!"

"Get to the point, Trixx." Tikki knit her brows together.

"Yeah yeah. Am I forgetting something? Oh yeah! Anyone will believe you if you lie!"

"...cool?"

"Let's see, what else... Oh!" Trixx brightened, "What instrument do you play?"

"How do you know I play an instrument..?"

"I wouldn't have felt a connection to you if you didn't have some form of talent with at least one instrument."

"... I play the flute."

"Oh thank god, I thought you would say piano." Trixx was beaming with delight.

"Trixx..." Tikki said irritably.

"Slow and steady wins the race, Tikki!" Trixx clapped his hands together. "So, the flute will be your weapon!"

"... is a yoyo an instrument?" Alya rose a brow curiously.

"No, of course not." Tikki rubbed her temples. "Some of the kwami's are known as yayue (which was adopted to mean elegant music by the people of China) because they generate music with their holders. Their weapons will always be influenced by the instrument their wielder plays best."

"Yes, and I happen to LOVE flutes!" Trixx said. "I own every type of flute there is!"

"Trixx, hurry it up."

"I've explained it all already, have I not?"

"Ugh, no." Tikki looked like she was going to implode with how much rage she was keeping contained. "Alya Cesaire, this is the kwami of the fox." She pulled a necklace which had a dainty fox tail attached out from Trixx's pocket.

"Hey-"

"To transform you say "lets pounce" and to detransform, "lets rest"," Tikki further explained, handing the necklace to Alya. "I'll be here to show you the ropes but we really need to get going. I don't know how long Chat can last on his own."

"Isn't Carapace going to help?"

"I lied. Carapace isn't coming."

"What?!" Trixx exclaimed. "YOU LIED?!"

"YOU LIE ALL THE TIME!" Tikki snapped. She smiled sweetly back at Alya, "Both Ladybug and Carapace are... in bubbles. So we need to hurry!"

"You're both forgetting one thing."

"What's that?" Trixx asked.

"I'm crippled."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"I can't run around and be a hero!"

"Just trust us, ok?" Tikki said, taking the necklace and putting it over Alya's head. "Can you do that?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"If you change your mind later it's fine but we are desperate right now."

"Desperate enough to grab a wheelchair bound girl off a bus," Alya grumbled. "Ok. Fine. Let's pounce."

Trixx disappeared and Alya screamed.

A flash of orange light consumed her body and even after it vanished, she was still screaming.  Her clothes were not her clothes anymore, but rather an orange fox themed hoodie with matching baggy sweatpants, wrapped legs, and thick yellowish short boots. She had yellow goggles on instead of a mask as well, with the addition of black fingerless gloves upon her hand. But what had her stunned was the sudden lack of pain in her leg.

"My... leg..." she managed to say after getting over her shock.

"It's not going to be entirely healed, and it may still hurt a little bit, but trust me, you can walk now. Run even!" Tikki explained. Alya had nearly forgotten the woman was there. Testing this, Alya managed to stand up. She hesitantly put a little weight on her leg. It was like magic! It didn't hurt! It could support her body. She took a few steps around, admiring her ability to walk.

"This is... insane."

"Now jump."

"Jump?"

"Jump."

Alya, with much confusion of the demand, jumped. And bam! She was high in the sky! Alya let out a scream as she fell, fearing she'd break apart when she landed. But she didn't. She landed painlessly without harm.

"HOLY HELL!"

"Since you don't have a weapon that lets you move around the same way Ladybug and Chat Noir do, you can jump higher and farther than they can. Now come on, follow me!" Tikki flew back up into the sky.

Alya stood there for a moment, reassessing her whole life. She had a delicate golden flute in her fist, but how was that a weapon? More importantly, how was any of this possible? She took a deep breath and jumped up again, this time landing on a roof. She saw Tikki in the distance and decided to trust her, following her as they headed straight for the fight with the Bubbler.

"Now, Trixx did a poor job of explaining how you powers work but-"

"You're afraid of mistakes..." Alya said, jumping up beside her. She had this estranged look on her face, confused about how she knew this about Tikki. She could tap into her mind with ease.

"Yes. That. You have an ability called nightmare. You will always be aware of the worst fears in people around you and by using nightmares, you can bring them to life. You can only use your powers once though."

"And... the other one?"

"Mirage. It will grant you the ability to create an illusion of your choice using your flute there. Your flute works for both your powers."

"Nice." Alya jumped up into the sky, feeling as though she could reach the moon. She brought her flute to her lips and played a long sweet note as she made her descent. "Wow, this thing is perfect! My flute at home is literal trash!"

"There they are," Tikki said as they made it to another rich neighborhood, though it wasn't the same as Adrien's. Alya and Tikki stopped, observing from afar. Chat Noir was alone, dueling Carapace with his staff. "I can't come with you. I've made too many public appearances already, it'll get dangerous if I'm not careful. Now remember," she looked down at Alya, "no one can know your secret identity."

"No one?"

"No one."

"Not even my best friend?"

"We will revoke your powers if anyone finds out."

"Ah. Duly noted."

"I wish you luck," Tikki said, "Now I must return to Ladybug." With that, she flew off.

"Great." Alya murmured. She watched Chat Noir who was deep in this fight with the Bubbler. He was so focused, Alya wasn't sure if she'd be able to do the same. Would she even be useful?"

She took a deep breath, assuring herself that she could do this, and took a leap of faith.

*in the tune of do you wanna build a snowman* are you ready for some trauma?

I thought I posted this a few hours ago but evidently I did not... here have it at midnight