Work Text:
Another day, another akuma. Except this wasn’t just any akuma. More and more often, Hawkmoth created akumas that required more than two superheros to beat, so much so that Viperion had been made a permanent member of the Miraculous team. Chat Noir had not been thrilled by that decision--for some reason, he felt threatened by any male superhero who did not immediately pair up with a superheroine--but Ladybug had made an executive decision. Viperion’s Second Chance power was invaluable, and it took a little bit of pressure off of her shoulders. Suddenly, everything was not lost if she slipped up, since Viperion could swoop in and rewind time with Second Chance. After a talk with Chat about the constant pressure she felt as the only one who could purify akumas, the only one who could undo the damage inflicted on Paris, the only one who could never afford to make a mistake, get hit by a mind-control beam, or be incapacitated in a fight, and also the pressure that would be on Viperion, as the only one who would remember timelines where Ladybug failed, where Ladybug might have died , Chat Noir had accepted Viperion’s position on the team with grace, and been a lot more friendly to the lyre-wielding hero. It also made him more respectful of Ladybug’s intense focus and seriousness during akuma battles, and dial back his own playfulness. Team Miraculous was stronger than ever.
Except for one thing.
Chat Noir appeared at the Musée d’Orsay, their designated meetup spot post-recharge for the day, and immediately said, “We need Rena Rouge.” Which was true. But Rena Rouge was the one thing Ladybug could not deliver--she’d had a serious discussion with her parents about Lila and Alya, and it had become clear that Alya hadn’t been a good friend to Marinette, or a good reporter. She paid lip service to the idea of checking your sources, but never actually did it. She jumped to illogical conclusions, as could be seen when she thought Chloé might be Ladybug despite having seen Ladybug rescue Chloé, and went too far trying to prove herself right. She didn’t understand the concept of sensitive information, as evidenced by her trying to identify and publish Ladybug’s secret identity in general, and clearly had no respect for boundaries--this could be seen in her search for Ladybug’s identity, how she’d handled her hunch that Chloé might be Ladybug, and Marinette’s crush on Adrien. While she wanted to repair her friendship with Alya, it had become clear to Marinette that she should have never given Alya a Miraculous in the first place, and she could not Alya to become Rena Rouge again.
“Rena Rouge is retired,” Ladybug said with a pained expression. “She did something in her civilian life--I can’t trust her the way I trust you two.”
“I agree with Chat that we need Mirage,” Viperion said. “But it’s not like a Miraculous can only ever be used by one person. We just need a new holder.”
“One that is completely trustworthy,” Chat Noir replied. “I have the perfect person! Marinette Dupain-Cheng! She’s the most honest, hardworking person I know, her class calls her their Everyday Ladybug, and she’s really creative, so she’d be a great Fox! Plus, she lives nearby!”
Marinette froze, blindsided by this compliment, and by the dilemma she now faced, of having to come up with a reason for rejecting herself as the new Fox that did not reveal her secret identity, that didn’t involve insulting herself. Her breath hitched and her heart began to pound. She was not ready for this. How was she not ready for this? It was her job to be ready for everything! How had she made contingency plans for every “don’t-give-away-your-secret identity” scenario except this one? Wait, how did she know she’d covered all of them except this one? What if she’d missed more? She had thought she’d covered every scenario, but she missed this one…
Viperion’s firm voice cut through her panic. “Don’t you think Marinette has enough to do?” he says, with a cool tone and a slightly raised eyebrow. “She designs for Jagged Stone, right? I follow her on Instagram. She always seems crazy busy with commissions, and she’s class president on top of all of that. I think she has enough work and enough stress without being a superheroine on top of that. Especially since she also has the Everyday Ladybug stuff--it seems like she does a lot to take care of the people in her life. And I know this is part of the reason why you think she should be a hero, but doesn’t your impulse to find a do-gooder and give them superpowers kind of discount the good she can do, and is already doing, as a civilian? Isn’t the point of calling her Everyday Ladybug that she doesn’t need a Miraculous to be a hero? Giving her the Fox would devalue that. Even if only we would know, I don’t want to fall into the trap of thinking that somebody needs magic jewelry to make a difference. I think Marinette’s already doing her part to stop Hawkmoth, and that we should let her keep on doing what she’s doing and not crowd her schedule with another responsibility.” He paused, and made eye contact with Ladybug. “What about Marinette’s mother? She posts videos of her doing martial arts sometimes, so she already knows how to fight. She owns her own business, so she’s not at risk of losing her job for disappearing. And I think that at least one of the superheros should be a parent. The parents I know hate Hawkmoth more than anyone except the akumatized victims, and, well, aren’t there stories about people lifting cars to protect their children? Imagine what they could do with superpowers. They’d sniff Hawkmoth out like hunting dogs and arrest him for child endangerment.”
Marinette blinked. Viperion-- Luka had single-handedly defused the situation and handed her the answer to her problem. Multiple problems--needing a new Fox, needing a reason for it not to be her civilian self, and her fear of choosing a holder she would later regret, again. She even had an idea of how to explain to Alya that she couldn’t be a superhero again--the work she did as a reporter was important too. And she was amused by the mental image of Hawkmoth being taken to justice by a group of protective parents.
The suggestion of her mother, though….it was almost like he knew that Sabine Cheng was one of the people she trusted most in the world. But how could he? There were no links between Ladybug and Sabine Cheng. Did he….? She shook herself and turned her attention back to the moment. One thing at a time. She could worry about whether or not Luka had deduced her secret identity (and how) after the akuma was defeated. “I like this idea,” she agreed. “There’s nothing so powerful as a parent protecting their child. And, like you said, Chat--the bakery is nearby.”
As she turned to go, Ladybug looked at Viperion out of the corner of her eye, and she could have sworn that he winked.
Notes:
1. While my critique of Alya was heavily influenced by Alya-bashing, I tried to be a bit more charitable to Alya than straight-out bashing.
2. My apologies to Epcot97 for taking liberties with his prompt, but I was inspired by Viperion protecting Ladybug's identity, and I had a hard time trying to think up a scenario where he could do that with Multimouse involved without devolving into Chat Noir bashing, which I guessed was not his cup of tea.
3. I figured that since Marinette lives in a fictional arrondissement, and shown to be close to famous landmarks and parks besides that, I could say she lived near the Musée d'Orsay, which is one of my favorite museums in Paris.
4. Happy Valentine's Day!