yeah so i recently read (three times) this new book called Akarnae (and i'm SO UPSET because it's a FIVE PART SERIES but ONLY TWO BOOKS ARE PUBLISHED UGH)(READ IT IT'S SO GOOD) and there was this concept about gifts which was kinda cliche but actually really cool - everyone had a gift but some gifts were more powerful than others. SO since I haven't updated in a bit (sorry bout that, was working on my surprise) (honestly not much of a surprise anymore i'm just really excited for it) I decided to base this one-shot off that! Creds for the idea go to the author, Lynette Noni.

also creds for the song go to katy perry my love my life my inspiration my hero badabing badaboom

 "Hey, look, it's the princess of lame!" Chloe cackled as she flounced past in the hallways, Sabrina hot on her tail. 

Marinette rolled her eyes, shutting her locker and hitching her bag further up her shoulder. "You and I both know the reason you hate me is because you can't manipulate me!" she called up the hallway, a sigh escaping her lips once the scoff reached her ears before making her way to class.

Chloe was a Charmer, not the strongest in their school, but definitely strong enough to get what she wanted. Charmers can use their voice like a... hypnotists swinging watch, suggesting things and manipulating minds to their will. Often, Charmers used this ability for their own selfish needs and desires, like Chloe's father during his election campaign. But there was one Charmer that could do anything, even make the most powerful of the gifted fall for him.

Adrien Agreste.

The boy did whatever he pleased, but what he did wasn't selfish or cruel. It was always in the interest of others, like when he Charmed his father to let him go to Nino's birthday party, or Charming Chloe to make her calm down. He knew when he was being manipulated, and therefore Chloe couldn't Charm him, but that didn't stop her from trying. He was always so kind and understanding, it wasn't hard for Marinette to fall for him, despite him having no power over her whatsoever.

Oh yeah, Marinette's gift was the gift of willpower. Now, that might not cool and fancy like Nino's ability to transcend (walk through walls like a ghost, disappear) or Alya's ability to read minds, but in reality it was considered the most useful and powerful of gifts. What it meant was that she could never be manipulated, nobody could read her mind (sorry Alya), she could literally will things into existence and she could even open doors to the other world, the one that was parallel to theirs in the beginning but got knocked off course. 

That was why Chloe hated her. Because Chloe could never bend Marinette, she chose to break her instead. 

But... because of Chloe's Charm, practically everyone in the school hated Marinette. Except Adrien.

And that's one of the reasons she fell for him.

"Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng!" 

Marinette lifted her gaze to meet her teacher's, the purple eyes behind the angled glasses fiery with contempt. "Oui, madame?"

"Would you care to pay attention?"

"I have been, madame."

"Oh really? What did we just go through?"

Marinette yawned, stretching slightly. "The formula for determining how much kinetic energy an object has as it decreases in velocity."

Ms Mendeleiev grumbled under her breath. "Correct. I apologise for calling you out again as you clearly proved me wrong again." 

Marinette smirked. "Anytime, madame."

"Cut the sass, Dupain-Cheng."

"Oui, Madame." She chuckled under her breath as Chloe's scowl was shot her way, returning to her work with a satisfied smile on her pretty face.

The events in the classroom did not leave Adrien's head, even as Marinette kindly invited him over for lunch. 

Although Chloe could manipulate opinions, she could not manipulate facts. Fact was, Marinette was very clever, very talented, and stunningly beautiful. If not for Chloe, she would easily be the most sought after girl in Paris. Yet, it always confused him how Marinette never fought back.

And so he brought it up.

Marinette glanced up at him, an easy smile gracing her lips. "I am fighting, and I'm winning." At his confused expression, she shook her head with a bell-like laugh. "I've already won the friendship of one person, and that person is the one who she has always wanted but never had." Humming under her breath, her gaze moved from his face out onto the streets. "I know my duty as one with such willpower is to either be a leader or to be an ambassador between the worlds. I know who I'm supposed to be, who I will be, and because of my gift, she can't take that away from me."

Adrien couldn't tear his eyes from her. She looked... regal. In every sense of the word, she was magnificent and knowledgeable and kind and respectful, she could easily be a queen. "I guess it's true what they say." He half-smiled as her curious eyes met his. "Willpower truly can get you anywhere."

"Adrien, willpower alone may get you anywhere, but for where I truly want to be, I can't go with only my willpower, and it would be morally wrong to try," she said with a sad smile, before standing and collecting their plates. "Come on, we better get back to school."

Adrien allowed himself a moment of stillness. Where could she possibly want to go that she felt she couldn't be?

~*~

Of course, the good days couldn't last. The days with Adrien, with Alya before she was turned, with her family.

It was all her fault.

She left a door open. And a door, once open, can be entered through from either way.

Who knew the people of the other world were so... unnecessarily violent?

She tried to save them. But, in her panic, her willpower faltered and the door closed... with only enough time to see Chloe's terrified face.

"Marinette?"

It was all her fault, it was all her fault, it was all her fault...

"Marinette, it's okay, we all make mistakes."

How could she have been so stupid, she should've been more careful!

"Marinette, I'm going to be harsh."

She didn't deserve to have this gift, she couldn't save them-

"You gotta suck it up and save them because you're the only one who can."

Adrien lifted her chin, green eyes steely and strong. 

"You have to open that door, go through it and get them back before they die, and then, and only then, is it your fault."

She blinked rapidly, lips opened in shock. "I... I can't... I don't..." Her body shook with shudders and sobs as she stuttered out barely audible words.

"You can and you will." His eyes softened. "That's your gift, isn't it? You will. No if's or but's about it. You will."

By the grace of God

She swallowed, closed her eyes and breathed.

I picked myself back up.

Eyes still closed, darkness enveloping her, she stood and slashed open a doorway.

I put one foot in front of the other and I, looked in the mirror

She opened her eyes.

And decided to stay.

Blue eyes blazing with fury and power, she leveled Adrien with her gaze that was like looking into the deepest depths of the ocean during a cyclone.

Wasn't gonna let love take me out that way.

"Let's go."

He gaped. "L-let's?!"

She growled, grabbing his wrist and dragging him through the shimmering portal. "You talked me into this, you get to help."

"B-but w-what good am I, haha, like I'm useful!"

"You can get us into wherever they're keeping our friends and you can damn well help me get them out."

Adrien groaned. If only being a hero were that simple.

~*~

"What's the plan?" Adrien asked shakily, pressed tight against the wall as Marinette peered around the corner.

"You go up, the picture of innocence and you Charm them like you Charm your father to leave for a break, and leave the key behind. We sneak in, save our friends, I open the door and we go. Simple." Marinette leaned back against the wall beside him, (way too close to calm him down) crystal eyes meeting his. "You can do this."

He nodded. "I can do this."

"Now go out there and show me what you can do."

"Will d- are you Charming me?!"

"Nope, you're just repeating everything I say and Charming yourself. Told ya you were go. Now go!"

With a slight grumble, Adrien pushed himself off the wall and sauntered over to the guards. At their suspicious gazes, he turned on the Charm. "No need for those guns, I'm not a threat."

Almost instantly, the guards nodded, the untrusting glares melting off their faces and the hands leaving guns. 

"Now, aren't you all tired?"

They nodded again.

"Wouldn't you like to go and have a break?"

"But- we can't have a break without being dismissed." One guard said through a yawn.

Adrien patiently smiled. "I'm sure nobody would mind. Just fifteen minutes, it isn't that long. And might I suggest leaving your gear here? It must be so heavy," his sympathetic tone added to the hypnotism, as with yawns and and slow nods, the guards left their stations towards a large building. Luckily, the keys (which were attached to one of their belts) were left behind. He sighed in relief, picking up the keys- oh wait, they were taken from his hand as Marinette stalked past him towards the gate. 

OH HERE WE GO MATT SMITH'S THEME OH YEAH HELLA PUMPED

She unlocked the padlock and threw open the doors, although they barely made a sound above the tapping of her feet as she strode down the hall to her friends.

Alya was the first to see her, lifting her head and watching the furious blunette walk towards them with power in every step. "Marinette?" She noticed Adrien running down the hall after the girl, the two of them looking like action-movie heroes. "Adrien?"

The rest of the children, teachers and even Marinette's parents (they'd taken her parents) looked up to see the two unlocking the door, Marinette opening a doorway with a wave of her arm. "Go. Get out of here." Before anyone could speak, she threw the key to Adrien and took off running down the hall.

"Marinette, what are you doing?!" Adrien yelped, dashing after her. 

"Getting the bad guy, get them out of here!" She called back, skidding around a corner.

"Not without me, you don't!" 

Alya smiled as the Adrien chased after Marinette. "Anyone else ship it, or is it just me?"

~*~

"...we'll analyse their DNA, see if they're really human and interrogate them to find out how they came here-"

"Excuse me?"

The woman's head whipped up to see the small girl stomping towards him. 

Her voice was filled with anger and her eyes spat fire. "We didn't come to your world! You came to ours and kidnapped innocent people!" 

The woman looked amused. "What's this? A little girl?"

The unidentified girl growled, grinning maliciously. "Not just any little girl." With a wave of her hand, she opened a door beneath their feet to a land that her world only knew as the Punishment, an ancient dimension not opened for years...

Or. She would've. 

"Marinette!" A familiar blonde boy jumped out from behind her and stopped her movement. "You can't do this!"

The girl, apparently Marinette, hissed. "Why not?! They took our friends, my family from their homes! Why shouldn't I take them from theirs?!"

"Because you're not them and it isn't the answer. Now come on, we need to go." His soothed the girl from her rage, glaring at the woman and her associates. "Let's get out of this sick place."

The two children walked away into another portal, which closed soon after they stepped through it.

The woman smiled.

"Mrs. Agreste?" Her assistant prompted.

She turned. "Collect the sample we have and start the analysis."

BUM BUM BUUUUUUMMMMM mystery woman is adrien's mom HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING

"Who was she?" Marinette asked as they returned to her world.

Adrien shot a glance at her before returning his gaze in front of him. "My mother."

okay guys i'm not doing a part 2 because this is set up for an entire book on its own and i'm not good at finishing those. SO if any of y'all wanna continue this in your own time, feel free to do so! i don't like continuing stuff past two parts (the chat with me stuff is an exception)

so voila

here we go

thanks very much 

good night