Ladybugs, Cats, & Spiders - ColoredShield253 (2024)

Chapter 1: Prologue (Origins... Well, Kind of)

Chapter Text

New York City

Wednesday, November 8

Being Spider-Man had its ups and downs, and there were a lot of downs.

The downsides of being Spider-Man was keeping it a secret from everyone, including your parents, the mass swam of supervillains who wanted you dead simply because you ruined their plan for world domination, et cetera.

The upsides were... well, swinging up to the top of The Empire State Building after a long and stressful day of fighting bad guys seemed like a good upside. And on top of said Empire State Building perched fifteen-year-old Miles Morales, the red and black-suited Spider-Man, rubbing his sore fist after punching the equivalent of a walking, talking, exploding tank.

"Man, if I'm ever going up against Rhino again, I'm using venom first, then I'm punching his lights out. Why can't they all have a glass jaw like most common crooks?" He mused to himself, testing if his fist was broken or not. "It should be fine. I'll take a better look at it when I get back to the dorm."

Looking back at the city before him, it was beautiful. The city lights glowed brightly, the people and cars down below went on their way to work or home, and a nice lukewarm breeze hit just right after the afternoon he had. The sight reminded him why he loved New York so much, despite every supervillain in the city trying to kill him.

Yeah. This is nice.

His phone rang.

After retrieving it from his waistband, the caller ID read 'Ganke.' He clicked answer.

"Yo Miles, you good? The fight with Rhino looked rough."

"It felt rough, I'm fine though, don't worry. So what's up? If it's about the money you owe me, I'll happily come by the dorm to collect it.~"

" We both know you only won that bet because you used your powers, so I ain't giving you jack."

There was a long silence on both ends before the two burst into fits of laughter, it took them both a while to regain their composure before they went down to business. "S-so... what's up?"

" Uh, right. So, I got good news and bad news, which one do you want me to hit you with first?"

Miles thought about it for a while, before giving his answer, "I'm in a good mood, so give me the good news."

" Okay, so, get this, you know that facial recognition app on your phone I never got close to finishing?"

"Yeah...?" Miles raised a brow. Was this one of those conversations where Ganke was talking to him while he was avoiding gunfire?

" Well, I got it up and running. We got a ton of hits."

"Sweet!" He exclaimed before his excitement gave way to unease, "I'm almost scared to ask what the bad news is..." Can't be that bad... right?

"Tinkerer's been seen taking pieces of tech from the collider under Fisk Tower."

Ah... it was that bad.

It had been two months since a black hole almost opened up underneath Brooklyn and with Wilson Fisk's arrest and Octavius's death after the collider explosion, it's open season for villeins lately.

"Ok, that's weird. Any idea where he's taking the tech?" He asked.

"Hang on... got it. Head to the Loew's 46th Street Theater. Been abandoned since the 1900s."

Miles froze, "Wait, isn't that in Brooklyn?" He groaned, "Man, why do bad guys have to build doomsday devices in Brooklyn? Why not build them in Staten Island or Jersey? No offense to Jersey."

"You can ask Tinkerer that in-between punches. Anyways, gotta go, this homework isn't going to finish itself. I'll leave the window open when you get back."

"Yeah, see ya." He double-clicked his wireless headphones and ended the call.

He took in another inhale of air before leaping off the building, letting gravity takes over, enjoying the rush of adrenaline going through his body. Now, if you asked Miles, this was one of the things about being Spider-Man he could never get over.

Fighting supervillains? It wasn't that difficult.

Dodging bullets? Some grazed him and he never got used to it, but it was something he had to do.

But skydiving off buildings and shooting a web line before he turned into street pizza?

Yeah, those were one of the upsides.

After an hour of swinging, he finally got to Tinkerer's hideout. All the entrances were blocked off and the place seemed devoid of life unless you counted the windows in front of the theater have been cleaned. That, and there was a hand-shaped smudge near the frame.

"Well... if I can't go through the front or the back," Miles muttered, looking up to the roof, "Maybe I can go over."

He shot out a web line to the roof and land near one of the vents, taking care not to make too much noise ripping the grate from the vent. It was a tight squeeze, getting inside was even more of a hassle, due to there being lasers in the vents.

So much for being abandoned. He thought jokingly.

A little bit of venom on the lasers and the rest was history. From what he could see inside, Ganke was right about it being abandoned because there were cobwebs everywhere, some parts of the balcony up top were destroyed or falling apart, and apart from the ruined curtains, there was what looked like a mini collider on the main stage. So the lights are on, but no one's home. What, did they skip town?He thought, looking around before jumping from out of the vents, he crept towards the computer connecting to the collider.

"The sooner I shut this thing down, the better. The question is how?" Miles mused, but, "And it's password protected. 'Cause nothings ever easy."

He stood there, debating his options. He could use venom on it, but he didn't know if that would make the problem better or worse. Leave the police an anonymous tip was an option, but he also didn't know if he had guys inside the police force. He knew Tinkerer was no Wilson Fisk, but you can't be too careful.

I can probably hack it, but how am I gonna-

His phone, loudly ringing in the empty --he hoped-- theater, "No no no! Shut up! Shut up!" He whispered harshly, answering the call in the process and taking a deep breath afterward, "Hello?"

" Hey Miles, I know your busy, but uh... you wouldn't answer to thirteen would you?"

"Jesus Ganke..." Miles breathed, "You scared the sh*t outta me."

"By calling you?" Ganke asked.

"I- it- whatever!"

"Okay? So, you know the answer, or..."

"Yeah, yeah! It's twenty-seven." Miles said, pausing and looking back at the computer. Then to Ganke, he said, "Quick question, how would you feel about being the first person to hack into a supervillain’s computer that connecting to a super-collider?"

There was a short pause before he answered, "I mean, I wouldn't be the first person to do so, but I'll be added to a very, very long list. Plus, this is totally on my bucket list, so it's a win-win."

"...You have a very strange bucket list. So what do you need me to do?" He asked.

" Just plug your phone in. I'll get started from there."

He did as such, waiting five minutes... eight minutes... how long was this going to tak- "Done. You can disconnect your phone."

Oh...that was easy."So, we're done?" Miles asked, taking his phone out from the computer.

" No, I'm just extracting data from it, and your phone doesn't need to be plugged up for this part. Now let's see if I can find the off switch."

"And how long will-"

Miles was cut off when spider-sense blared, followed by the doors being kicked in at the entrance, revealing five-to-ten men with guns.

"Spider-Man?!"

"The hell's he doing here?!"

"Uh, Ganke I'm gonna have to get back to you," Miles replied.

"Why, what's going on--" He Ended the call.

Back to the problem at hand... "Hey guys, uh... I was just trying to find the bathroom. So, if one of you can just show me where-" He was cut off when they pulled out their guns and trained them on him. "I guess we're doing this..." He muttered, before using his camouflage ability. It was useful, to sip in and out of place or if he got caught, he could just disappear and come back another day.

It was also used for scaring the living hell out of a group of baddies.

Miles leaped up in the air, shotting out two wed lines at one of the rows of chairs, and pulled them out of their rusted placeholders to take three of the crooks. He then used the momentum to send a punch to the fourth crook's face, de-cloaking in the process.

"Get him!" One of them shouted, but Miles was already moving, as he jumped off the guy he previously punched and kicked another one in the jaw, shooting a line out to one of their guns, pulling it from out of their hands. One of them tried to hit Miles, but he backflipped over him and placed his hand on the guy's head, kicking another one in the process.

"So, do any of you bozos know why Tinkerer wants the collider? You know it almost destroyed Brooklyn, right?" The response he got was his spider-sense blaring as two more guns trained on him. He jumped off the thug's head, dodging left and right until one of the stray bullets cut the web line he was swinging on, making him crush near the main stage.

One of them aimed at him, but to Miles's surprise, the other one near him pushed his rifle up and scowled, "Don't shoot, you idiot! Tinkerer's payin' us good money for protecting that doo-hicky of his, don't start shootin' at it."

So they'll shoot at me, but not collider huh?Miles thought,Good to know. He activated camo mode again and jumped to the ceiling. They were scrambling and once they did, he became visible again.

"Where the hell is he?!"

"I don't know," One of the thugs said, "Spread out and find him. And lock that door! Unless it's the Tinkerer, nothing gets in or out."

Who said anything about leaving? Miles thought. Once they locked the door, he then webbed up the goon near the door and dropped from the ceiling, straight on one of their backs. Then, in one fluid motion, he kicked him into two of his buddies.

Two guys left.

Spider-sense.

The one on the left brought out a flashbang and throw it at him, which he kicked back to them and covered his eyes. It went off, blinding the other two. Once the flash dimmed down, he jumped on the thug to his right, wrapping him up in webbing, kicked him up in the air, and brought him back down. Turning his attention to the other guy, he shot a web line to one of the chairs and threw it at him while shouting: "¡Aquí, atrapa!" Knocking him out cold.

With everyone down, he turned his attention back to the collider, calling back Ganke, "Hey sorry man, I had to deal with some company. So how's it coming?"

"It's going well, haven't found that off button yet, but I think I found out why he's doing this. Looks like he's looking for something?"

"What kind of something?" Miles asked.

"I don't know, it doesn't... say..."

There was silence on the other end of the line that went on for more than it could have, causing Miles to worry, "Uh... Ganke?"

The silence continued before a loud"Found It!"entered his earbuds.

"Found what? The off switch?"

"Yep!"Ganke exclaimed,"Look in the southeast wall, should be right near a fountain."

It wasn't hard to spot the fountain, so he hopped on the wall, checking to see which part of it was hollow. When he did, he punched through it, pulling apart the wall to reveal the 'off switch' Ganke was talking about. "Found it. Looks like a generator, none I've seen tho. What now?"

"Well,"Hebegan, "try overloading it, that should shut it down. Shouldn't be too hard, after all, you're basically living bio-electricity."

Miles chuckled at that, "Hey if it ain't broke..."

Charging up venom, he formed his hand into a fist, positioning to strik-

His spider-sense blared, forcing him to look up, just in time to see the ceiling cave-in. Miles jumped off the wall, dodging a giant scorpion tail, and landing on the guardrail on one of the balconies.

After the smoke cleared, Maximus Gargan stood up from the wreckage and faced Miles, grinning, and said, "Ah, hola de nuevo, pequeña araña. Been a while."

Maximus Gargan A.K.A The Scorpion. When he first met the cybernetic sad*st, it was in Aunt May's house after being followed by his uncle, the man was intimidating up close. And strong, strong enough to take down Peni's SP//dr Single-handedly. While he never fought him, he'd seen pictures of the other Spider-Man nearly get killed by him. That and the intimidating tail of his made Miles want to keep a six-foot distance. Seriously, the thing should come with a warning label or something.

"Miles! You alright?!"Ganke screamed.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, just um... Scorpion's here. Look, I'll call you back, okay?"

"Okay. Okay." Before he could end the call, he asked, "You got this?"

Miles cracked his knuckles, saying "I got this."

Scorpion lunged at him, his legs opened to four duplicate ones, stretching his tail out. Miles jumped over him hearing the splinter of wood and landing in a crouched position. Looking behind him, he could see that his tail was lodged in the balcony, allowing Miles to jump on Scorpions' back. He landed three punches to the back of his head before leaping off him.

"So why are you doing working for Tinkerer? Thought you were loyal to Fisk."

Scorpion chuckled, "Well, you know what they, 'go where the money is'." He pulled his tail out from the debris, his grin turning cruel. "And Tinkerer's paying me handsomely for protecting his little science project. But now that you're here, killing you will be my little bonus." He dropped from the ground, all without taking his eyes off Miles.

He then lunged his tail at him. Miles, already sensing it coming, cartwheeled to the side and land a hit to the side of his jaw. "Yeah, well let me tell you how my version of the story goes," He webbed up his tail to the ground, "I kick your ass, shut down Tinkerers' collider," Kneed him in the ribs and jumped on his back, shooting webbing in his eyes, "Find him, kick hisass, and throw both in jail-" he was cut when Scorpion, using his claw-hand, caught Miles by the leg, slamming him to the ground and threw him at one of the pillars.

"Ow..." Shaking the stars out of his eyes, his spider-sense rang like a bell, adding to the already uncomfortable headache. Trusting the supernatural feeling, he stuck to the pillar he was smashed into, nearly dodging Scorpions' fist. He then did a complete 360 with his whole body and tried to slash at him. Miles, being quick on his feet, went invisible and jumped out of harm's way. And using the momentum, he shot two web lines to the back of the wall behind the pillar and pulled himself to him delivering a flying to Scorpion's back, smashing him into the pillar, breaking it.

His head shot forward, knocking the wind out of him. "I see this araña has a few new tricks. But they won't do you any good!"

"Then you're gonna love this."

Charging up venom, Miles tapped Scorpion's shoulder, causing him to spasm and twitch. Once that happened, Miles grabbed his tail and swung him to the other pillar, which caused the balcony to collapse.

"Wait, he's not dead is he?" Miles muttered to himself, "Hey! Your not dead are you?"

What he got in response was a pained groan. "Yeah, he'll be fine. Now for the generator." He jumped back to the wall where it was, "Let's do this one more time." Charging up venom, he reached out for the generator.

But before he could touch it, something caught on to his hand.

It was a wire... and it was glowing...

What the hell?

Where did- Before could finish his train of thought, he was suddenly ripped away from the wall and was slammed to the ground. Pain erupted from his back, knocking the wind out of him. Then he was swung like a ragdoll to the wall, the ground, and the ceiling, and the more he struggled, the more the wire tightened. When he could barely tell up from down, more wires emerged and wrapped around his body, suspending him up in the air.

When he tried to break free, a voice echoed through the theater.

It wasn't Scorpions'.

"I must confess, you being here is a surprise Spider-Man," The double doors on the back balcony began to glow blue and the once ruined doors started to fix themselves. When they opened, they revealed an old man with gray hair and a styled forward hood, with a black shirt underneath it. He had two blue bracelets on his arms and black pants to finish the look. "A surprise, but not an unwelcome one."

When the Tinkerer stepped off of the ledge, tiny foot-shaped tiles appeared under him as he used them as steps, walking down to the ground level. "Like my new toy? I'll admit, it's a little lazy, but it gets the job done nonetheless."

The guy knows how to make an entrance I'll give him that. "Yeah, I'm sure," He responded, trying to break free from his restraints, "So, you can make floating stepstools, but you make poor fashion choices? I mean, blue on black dude? C'mon..."

Tinkerer stared at him for a few seconds until he looked down at his outfit before closing his hand into a fist, which resulted in the wires holding him to tightened, painfully digging into his skin, "Talkative as the last one it seems." The wires bought Miles down closer to the ground. "Can't say that's a surprise. No matter. Once this machine works, I'll have everything that was taken away from me."

"You mean... besides your... receding hairline?"

Tinkerer, surprisingly, let out a hollowed-out laugh at that. "And annoying like the last one too. Wow..." The wires tightened again as he began to walk towards him, "You know, I was beginning to think I'd never meet this new Spider-Man. Yet here you are," Tinkerer was right in front of his face now, "Completely at my mercy."

"What... are you looking for... that worth all this?" Miles asked in a pained voice.

He backed off, "I'm just trying to recover a lost soul Spider-Man. Nothing more, nothing less."

Because that wasn't vague at all.Miles sarcastically thought as he formed a plan in his head. Break free, slap Tinkerer around a whole lot, shut down the collider, then leave before the cops- "Don't bother trying to break free. Those were made to hold down Spider-Man. Well, hold down the original, but you get the idea."

Oh... well there goes that plan.

With a yell, Scorpion emerged from the debris looking enraged.

Tinkerer turned away from Miles to face him, "Ah, Gargan, glad you could join us." He chimed, but he ignored him and went for Miles.

"¡Pequeño insecto molesto!" He hissed, "When I'm through with you-"

"Calm yourself, Gargan." Tinkerer said, placing his hand in front of him, "He's already been restrained. Now would you-"

Scorpion slapped his hand away. "Do not mock me! This niño has insulted my pride. If you expect me to sit around and-"

"What I 'expect' from you Gargan," He interrupted, clenching his fist, which caused Scorpion's claw-hand to close around his own throat, "Is for you to listen and obey."

Scorpion, now choking, fell to his knees as Tinkerer's face looked like it was deciding between annoyed and livid, "I don't know who you think you are, but you have no power here. You are no Kingpin. There's only one man who fits the criteria and he's currently sitting in a jail cell. You are hired muscle. Hence is why Ihave hired You. So if I were you, I'd watch my tone around your superiors. Are we clear?"

Looking up at him, Scorpion still had his prideful expansion on his face until he choked out "Clear..."

"Good." He relaxed his fist, letting Scorpion breathe. "Now be an obedient little foot soldier and keep an eye on him."

He scowled up at Tinkerer as he stood back up and walked back to the collider, but before sending his tail out, and struck Miles in the shoulder. "Now the pequeña mierda can die a slow death." He said with a self-satisfactory grin. Miles was already feeling the effects of the poison. He felt dizzy and tired, his legs also felt weak.

Tinkerer took a sharp inhale of breath before sighing, "Fine, I guess." He turned to Miles, "You know if I'm entirely honest, I'm glad you made it Spider-Man. After I bring her back to this earth, we take credit for killing the second coming of Spider-Man." He went back to the collider, "And once she delivers what she promised, my life can go back to the way it was."

Who the hell's 'she'. "Who... are you... talking about?" That was what he wanted to ask, but his tongue went numb and all he let out was moans and grunting sounds.

Tapping a few buttons on the collider and putting a piece of hair into it, the machine started to roar to life. The two cylinders on opposites sides of each other began to rotate faster and faster until the energy smashed into each. Everything was going well for them, and he didn't have a way to stop them.

Well, it was working. Until it wasn't.

The energy was lashing out, becoming unstable, and from the look on the Tinkerer's face, it seemed this wasn't going according to plan. But he couldn't make out what they were saying due to the ringing in his ears. Then, without warning, in a large spike of energy, the collider exploded.

Then everything went black.

???

???

After returning from his daily walk around Paris, Wang Fu set his cane down and asked Wayzz to put the kettle on. It was after he decided to keep an eye on Adrien and Marinette, did he returned to his home. It's been close to nine months since Ladybug and Chat Noir emerged in Paris to try to find and stop HawkMoth and they've been doing quite well. He knew he was the one who gave them their miraculous and ironically made them superheroes but sending children into battles that he was too old to fight left a sour taste in his mouth.

Regardless, what's done is done.

As he was about to open his bag of pastries, out of the corner of his eye, his ceiling appeared to open up. Before he could figure out what was going on, a body fell from it.

It appeared to be a child. He wore a black and red costume with a spider-themed logo on his chest. He was badly injured and had a red splotch on his shoulder. The child, who was half-conscious, mumbled out the words "Ow..." before passing out. Wayzz zoomed over to the unconscious figure, examining him, before turning back to Fu.

"Master, this boy has been poisoned." He said, a worried look plastered on the kwamiis' face.

He shook the momentary shock from his system before turning to Wayzz, "Get the medical supplies from out of the bathroom. We need to treat him."

"Of course master." He flew to the bathroom.

Turning back to his unwelcomed guest, Wang carefully took off his mask, revealing an African-American boy who looked no older than fourteen years old. His face was littered with cuts and bruises and he was sweating profusely.

The guardian asked aloud the question that kept nagging at his mind:

"Who are you?"

Chapter 2: Issue 1 (Along Came a Spider)

Chapter Text

Paris, France

Friday, April 12

"I'm late! I'm late! I'm so, so late!"

Marinette ran down the stairs from her room, above the bakery, and ran past her parents who were preparing to open the shop. "Slow down honey! You're going to hurt yourself-"

"No time Maman, I got to hurry to school before I miss the first period! Loveyoubunchesbye!" She grabbed a fresh pastry off the tray her dad was holding before running out the door, ignoring whatever her parents were shouting at her. She raced down the street until the school's front entrance was in view, not taking any account of the people around her giving her weird looks.

"M-Marinette, slow d-down," Tikki said, a hint of green on the tiny god's pinkish face. But she ignored her and continued to race down the street.

When she made it inside the school building, Marinette barreled through the classroom door. "I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry I'm-" She stopped short when she saw the scenery in front of her. In most cases; when she was late to school due to stopping late-night-Akumas with Chat, the usual scene that would play out was that she would run into Ms. Bustier's desk, getting laughed at everyone's expense, being told to sit down, and (not so) sneakily stealing glances in Adrien's direction.

That didn't happen.

Instead, there was only Max, Alix, Kim, and Alya in the class. "I'm... not late?"

"Nah. You're, like, a few minutes early," Kim said, a mocking grin on his face. "A new world record."

"Technically speaking," Max pushed his glasses up to his face. "Marinette is currently thirty-five minutes early. Which, in of itself, is astonishing."

Whatever Alix said next went in and out of her ear as she was trying to figure out this current situation. How was she early? She knew she missed her alarm, even Tikki woke her up and told her she was going to be late. It would explain why her alarm clock and all the other clocks in the house seemed out of sync. But the question that was lingering in her mind as she sat down next to Alya was:

Who changed my alarm clock?

Her train of thought was cut off due to Alya snapping her fingers in front of her face. "Earth to Marinette. You okay?"

"Uh... yeah, I'm fine. It's just..." Marinette stared at the clock above Ms. Bustier's desk. "How am I early?"

She wasn't looking for a response, Alya gave her one anyway, "Who knows. Maybe It's an act from God."

She snorted, "Yeah, sure. Mind telling me how the hell is waking me up past my usual schedule an 'act from God'?"

Alya shrugged, "You never know. I, for one, think this is a great improvement. Now, if you somehow ask out Adrien without stuttering, then I can safely say Christmas has come early!"

Marinette was about to retort when she thought about how well Alya was taking this, it was like she wasn't surprised at all-

After a moment of realization, she turned back to Alya with her customer-service smile. This smile was good for a lot of things; like hiding exhaustion when she encountered a rude customer, having to deal with Lila's lies, and hiding disinterest when someone was talking about any gossip in the school.

It was also good for masking intense rage.

"What did you do?"

When those words left her mouth, Alya went still before letting out a mock gasp and putting a hand over her chest, "Marinette! You think, I, your best friend since diapers, had something to do with you waking up early? Do you think that little of me? We're basically soul sisters."

"Oh, I know Alya! And as your soul sister, I'm going to ask you one last time," Marinette's smile was wiped off her face and gave her a deadpanned stare. "What did you do?"

They stared at each other before Alya coughed into her fist, "U-uh, well, remember when we were studying for today's test last night? I may or may not have put your alarm clock an hour forward..." She nervously chuckled.

All the while Marinette was pondering if throwing her off the Eiffel Tower was an abuse of her powers. She could try and convince Tikki, but she knew it was going to be an automatic 'no' with a capital N.

So instead, she just asked her, "Why? Why would you do that?"

"Oh, c'mon Mari, it's not like waking up a few hours early ever killed you! Besides," She turned away from her and eyed the door, her face turned serious so fast that it caught Marinette off guard. "I'm not going to be alone when that lying fox comes in the hen house."

Lying... Fox? Who the hell was she talking about?

Before she could ask, the classroom door opened, and four more students entered. The people who walked in were Adrien, Nino, Ivan, and Lila.

Oh. Lying fox. Lila. Chat would be proud of that pun.

Alya's serious expression swished to false joyfulness when Lila walked up to them, "Hey girls! Sorry, I'm not going to be able to stay for today’s test, I have to help Jagged Stone with a fundraiser in Tokyo. Alya, do you mind covering for me?”

Before she could call Lila out on her lie, Alya interjected, ”Of course girl! You go out there and save the world, I’ll Ms. Bustier that you’re busy.”

“Really?! You’re the best! Okay, catch you later!”

Lila gave them a wave before walking to the door. When she was out of earshot, Alya let out a “Bitch...” with a scowl on her face.

”Alya!” Marinette chastised.

”What? You’re thinking about it too!”

Well, she wasn’t wrong, but she still shouldn’t have said it.

Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose, "Not that I care, but why aren't you and Lila friends exactly?"

Judging from the face she was giving her, Alya sighed, "Look, it's nothing. I just... found out something about her that made me question our friendship." Marinette wanted to press more, but the look on her face made her drop the subject. For now, anyway...

She looked sad and angry. But there was also a hint of betrayal in her eyes.

"Alright so," Alya starts. "I shouldn't have messed with your alarm and, yeah, it was a sh*tty thing to do. I just didn't want to be alone with Lila all day but since she not here, I guess it doesn't matter. Sorry."

Marinette sighed, "I'm just annoyed. You promise won't do it again?"

"I promise."

"Then you're forgiven." She opened her arms up for a hug, to which Alya hugged her back. After a few moments of embracing, Marinette took some sort of sick satisfaction after whispering in her ear, "Your pastry privileges are hereby revoked till further notice."

"WHAT!? Why?!"

"Oh, c'mon Alya, it's not like getting no pastries ever killed you!" She could tell she had a sh*t-eating grin on her face when Alya went still.

"...Touché."

“Wassup dudettes!”

Marinette turned her attention to the two individuals walking up to their desks. "Hey, Nino. H-hi, Adrien." Was her hair a mess? Did she stink? Is there anything in her teeth? Anything on her clothes? Those were the thoughts that were flying through her head the moment Adrien walked up to her.

He gave her a small wave, "Hey, Marinette. You ready for today's test?"

"Tes I am. I-I mean, yes, yes I am." Nino held back an laugh. Adrien didn't seem to notice.

"Cool! Also, what's up with Alya?" He pointed to the crestfallen reporter to her left.

"Oh! Uh, she messed with my alarm clock and made it so I would come to school an hour early. So, I told her she won't be getting any more pastries from me."

Nino and Adrien stared at her for a few moments, before Nino turned to Alya, chimed, "I don't know what you expected babe..."

She turned to Marinette, tears in the corner of her eyes, "But you said you forgave me! Why am I getting punished like this?!"

"I did say I forgave you, yes. That doesn't mean I'm not pissed."

Adrien went around Marinette and patted Alya on the shoulder, "There, there..."

As the four of them talked, the rest of the class came in, Ms. Bustier entered a few minutes later and told them to take their respective seats.

Miles woke up slowly with a pained groan emitted from his throat. When he opened his eyes, he was confused and disoriented. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was-

Scorpion.

Tinkerer.

The collider!

He tried to sit up, but in doing so, his body ached, forcing him to stay in his current position, and he saw someone out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, je vois que tu es réveillé." Miles turned his head to find out who was speaking. It was an old man, who looked like he was in his late fifties, he was also wearing a red Hawaiian shirt with a white hibiscus flower pattern, tan capri pants, and dark brown shoes. He was holding a tray too.

And after hearing the old man talk, it sounded like he was speaking french. Wonderful.

The old man walked over to Miles and sat down next to him,"Je t'ai fait du thé. Cela aidera à guérir tes blessures. Peux-tu t'asseoir?"

"W-what?" Miles croaked, "I... can't un-under... stand you..."

The old man's eyes widened slightly before speaking, "I said: I made you some tea. It will help heal your wounds. Can you sit up?"

Oh, thank god he can speak English.Miles mentally cheered as he tried to sit up again with the old man's help. Once he did, he took the tea from the old man's tray and took a long gulp of it. The tea wasn't scorching hot per se, it had a comfortable taste to it. He immediately choked it out as it went down his windpipe and coughed.

“Take it slow,” He said, patting his back. “Don’t drink large portions of it.”

“Th-thanks.” He said, scratching the back of his neck-

Wait...

Wait, where was his mask?!

He didn't notice when he was drinking the tea, but his mask AND the top half of his suit was gone, what was there instead were bandages wrapped around his chest and stomach. He looked around frantically for them but stopped when the old man who held out his mask, "Looking for this? The other half of your costume is over there" He pointed next to the golden gong with Chinese engravings on it. Sitting on top of the uniform was his web-shooters. "I also took the liberty of washing it for you."

That's... awfully generous of him

The two fell into an uncomfortable silence as they drank their tea.Think it's time to finish up and go-

"Excuse me for being blunt, but who are you?"

Oh great, one ofthose questions..."Well, I'm Spider-Man." He didn't have time to play twenty questions. He still needed to find Tinkerer and if that collider explosion sent all the way here (wherever 'here' is) he needed to hurry up and-

"Sorry, I'm not familiar with that name."

The old man's answer gave him pause. "What? You've-you've never heard of Spider-Man?"

He shook his head. "What about Peter Parker?" The old man shook his head again.

Wait... Miles thought, looking away from him. Where even am I? He looked back at the old man, hoping,praying he was wrong, "Uh... what day is it? And am I... still in New York?"

The old man looked at him like he just asked if pigs fly. "No, you're in Paris. And it's the twelfth of April"

.

.

.

...oh

Oh no...

Miles put his head in his hands. Fantastic. Perfect. WONDERFUL! So not only did I lose to Tinkerer AND Scorpion, but I get flung to another dimension in another country where Peter Parker or any Spider-people probably doesn’t exist here in the future! Or-or past? And since I didn't bring those multiverse watches Peni made with me and the others, I got no way to get back home.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, "Are you alright?"

Miles looked back to the old man who was seated next to him. The panic gave way to guilt, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just dealing with some new information, sorry Mr..."

"Wang Fu. And there is no need to apologize, but you still haven't answered my question."

He stared at Fu for a few moments before giving his answer, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He said.

But Fu just smiled, "I've been around long enough to know that some things don't phase me anymore."

I'd doubt that.Miles thought, he didn't trust this man, but for some reason, he seemed genuine. Could he trust him?

Miles let out a sigh, "Okay, well, my name is Miles Morales, and I'm currently on the wrong earth."

And thus began a very long and complicated explanation.

Meanwhile, Elsewhere...

"C'mon Marinette! I said I was sorry," Alya groaned, walking beside her best friend as they headed to her parents' Barkey for lunch. "What more do you want from me?"

Marinette, who had the gull to smile while her best friend was dealing with emotional turmoil, placed a hand on her shoulder, "And I already said I forgave you, but just because I forgive you, doesn't mean punishment isn't in order."

"But that's not fair." Alya hung her head as the two continued walking. That'll be the last time she'll do something like that again.

They were about to walk inside when the ground began to shake and a roar vibrated off the widows nearby. She started to get excited as her brain could only think of one possible conclusion.

"An Akuma." Marinette vocalized.

"Yeah," Alya pulled her phone out of her pocket with a huge grin on her face. "A big one."

She stopped when Marinette grabbed her arm, a worried look on her face. "Wait, that sounded bad, are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Alya tugged her arm out of Marinette's grasp. "Besides, Ladybug and Chat Noir are on the scene. Don't worry about me, you should probably head inside." And with that, Alya raced down the street near the theater where the Akuma seemed to be located.

When she got there, the tremors began to grow bigger and bigger until she saw the Akuma. Calling it big was an understatement; the thing was... well she didn't have any other way to describe it. It looked like a gladiator from their history books, only it looked around sixteen meters in height, and instead of having a shield or spear, it had chains all around his hands. It had stony grey skin and was barefooted. The only normal thing about it was the orange pants it was wearing.

Alya hit record and waited for Chat Noir or Ladybug to show.

"Whoa, you're a big guy, ain'tcha."

Speck of the devil.

Her head whipped to the side to see Chat Noir leading on his staff on top of the balcony of the theater, swing his fake tail around in his hand. "So, where are you headed? Got a gladiator match to go to? What's your stage name?"

The giant, who only responded in yells and groans, spoke, "NaMe... GoLiAtH!!!! GivE... MirACUloUS!!!! NOW!!!!!!"

It then used one of its chains to swing at Chat Noir, to which he dodged entirely. "No thanks, try to speak in full sentences. Maybe then I'll give it to ya," He landed on top of one of the cars, "Besides, you didn't say please~."

This seemed to agitate the Akuma as it lifted its foot off the ground, ready to crush him until a signature yoyo wrapped around its ankle and pulled it back causing it to stumble and fall with a monstrous thud. "My lady! You made it!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world Chaton."

Ladybug upped down from the rooftops and landed next to her partner. God, they're so cool. "So, what's the deal with this Akuma?"

"His name's Goliath, and other than threatening to hand over our miraculous, no idea. And, no, I haven't found the object yet." He smirked. "You'd think gladiators would only be in Rome but I guess they wanted to try the food in Paris."

"I do know a good bakery around the corner," She turned her attention back to the Akuma who was slowly getting back up. "But right now, we need to figure out how to stop him."

"Lead the way, m'lady!"

As the two were about to jump into action, Goliath slammed his fist down on the ground causing a mini earthquake, and dug into its pocket, pulling out... candy. A handful of normal-sized candy.

What?

He then proceeded to eat the candy and when he did he grew five feet taller. He roared, causing Alya, Ladybug, and Chat to cringe. "That's new!"

"C'mon!" They exploded into action. The fight was a little hard to keep track of, mostly because Akuma was probably a little too big for the heroes, but each time they tried to get close it would scream or swat them away. Maybe they'll ask her to be Rena Rouge again.

She shook the thought away. Now not the time. She might not have a Miraculous, but that didn't mean she couldn't help. Using her phone's camera as an advantage, she zoomed in on the Akuma to find its object. Until she found that the parts of the pants were black, well, the belt part away. It had a bull-like shaped belt buckle that somehow, through all the magical black bullsh*t, shined when the sun beamed off it.

That must be where the Akuma is.

Alya knew it was stupid. She knew she was most likely going to get berated for doing this. But she was going to anyway.

Coming out of her hiding place, she began to shout out to the heroes, "The belt buckle! The Akuma's in the belt buckle!"

Ladybug turned her attention to Alya, swinging over a swipe from Goliath and kicking him in the side of the face, "What are you doing?! Get out of here!"

Meanwhile, Chat, who was eyeing the belt buckle, smiled stated, "One depantsing coming right up!" Leaping forward.

"Chat wait!"

Just when he was about to activate Cataclysm, he was cut off when Goliath intended to smush him in between his hands, which he dodged. However, due to Goliath's giant size, when his open palms collided, what resulted was akin to a thunderclap shattering the windows near him. Alya felt her eardrums pop as she falls to her knees and she became disoriented. She could see Ladybug and Chat Noir doing the same thing as Chat was closest to Goliath and experienced it the worse.

The Akuma used the distraction to his advantage as he balled his hand into a fist and smacked the still mid-air Chat Noir through the air to the other side of Paris. She assumed Ladybug screamed for her partner, but she couldn't hear her due to the ringing in her ears.

What happened next went by too fast.

She felt a shadow loom over her, she looked up in time to see a car hurling towards her. She saw Ladybug trying to save her but was slammed into the side of the theater.

Alya couldn't move. Too scared to.

So she slammed her eyes shut, waiting for inevitable pain to end...

But there was nothing.

No pain. Just someone carrying her. And a sudden sense of weightlessness whenever she felt like she was on a rollercoaster.

At first, she thought it was Ladybug managing to break free from Goliath and saving her from being crushed. But when she opened her eyes, it wasn't Ladybug at all. It was another Superhero.

Sure, the color scheme was the same, black and red, but that was about it. The hero who saved her wore a spray-painted spider suit due to the spider-themed logo on his chest and his full-face mask having twin large spider-like eyes. He was speaking to her, but due to the soft ringing in her ears and the fact he was speaking English, she couldn't make out what he was saying.

He set her down near Chloé's hotel and began to speak again but she couldn't speak English. Judging from the look she was giving him, the hero hung his head with an exasperated sigh. Then he pulled out his phone from his waistband, began to typing something, and showed it to her.

"Are you okay? Anything broken?"

It took her a few moments to register what was typed, before nodding and giving him a thumbs up. He let out a sigh of relief as another tremor went off and he was typing again.

"Are there any big, open areas I can take that thing to?"

Alya thought about it, then she grabbed the phone he's holding and started typing her own response.

"There's a soccer stadium southwest of here. You can't miss it."

He nodded in thanks as he took his phone back and leaped and began sticking to the side of the hotel.

What the hell?

He turned his head back to her before he gave her a two-finger salute, shooting something out of his wrist, and swung away.

What the hell?!?

Did that just happen? Who was that guy? Where did he come from? Was he a new miraculous holder? She was pretty sure there wasn't a spider miraculous, but she wasn't Ladybug so she couldn't be too sure.

One thing was for certain; there was a new superhero in Paris.

And she'll be damned if she wasn't going to be the first one to document it.

Chapter 3: Issue 2 (Spidey and Goliath! Wait, that's not right...)

Chapter Text

A few minutes earlier...

Wang Fu would never like to admit it, but just because he was one hundred and eighty-six years old, didn't mean he knew everything.

Don't get him wrong, he knew plenty of things; he knew that some miraclouses can be used by certain types of people and some that could never see the day of light again. He also knew that there were certain things that the earrings of the ladybug can and can't do without the ring of the black cat, and vice versa.

But the fact that interdimensional travel existed gave him pause.

"So, that's my story. Got any questions?"

Of course, he had questions, but this wasn't the time to ask them. Sitting across from him was a boy named Miles Morales, or, the people on his earth call him 'Spider-Man.' And according to his story, he wasn't the only Spider-Man out there. No Ladybug, no Chat Noir, no Hawk Moth, no Majestia, or any of the superheroes in his New York.

"Just one," Fu set his cup of tea down. "This 'Tinkerer' and 'Scorpion,' are they here? In Paris?"

Miles let out a sigh, "I don't... know? I mean, we were all caught up in that explosion, so maybe? Not entirely sure to be honest." He scratched his head and let out an annoyed groan, "I'm sorry, I'm not really used to traveling dimensions, intentional or otherwise. Also, how long did you say I was asleep for again?"

"Three days, and it was no trouble at all," Fu said with a little laugh. "Although, you must imagine my surprise when a body fell out of my ceiling."

He coughed into his fist, rubbing the back of his neck. "Right... uh, sorry about that by the way."

The two went back to drinking their tea in silence. Sure, today wasn't going according to plan, but the story the boy- Miles, gave him was one to be remembered. He wondered something though, who was the first Spider-Man in his world? Whilst Miles was telling his story, he never once mentioned the names of the other spider people helping him, only their alter egos, but that part was understandable.

"Hey, uh, Fu? Mind if I ask a question?"

"You may."

"Okay, well," He started, "Is there someone else living here? I mean, I was kind of out of it when you were treating me, but it sounded like you were talking to someone else."

Oh... well, this was becoming a problem. Damnit Wayzz.

But Fu thought about it, Miles could help Ladybug and Chat Noir in their quest to stop Hawk Moth. But would they work with each other? And to tell him about the Miraculous was risky, he still didn't know where this boy stood. For all he knew, the story he told him was a lie and he was another one of Hawk Moth's spies. If that were the case, he needed to change locations.

So many 'maybes' and 'what-ifs', but there was only one way to find out.

With a sigh, he turned his head to the kitchen, "You can come out now Wayzz."

In a green streak, the tiny god hovered in front of Miles's face, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Morales."

Watching someone's face turn from relaxed to shock and disbelief when they met a kwami for the first time never got old. It was like watching those funny cat videos for the third time; you know what's coming, but you can't help but feel amused.

"Did-did you spike the tea or something?"

Fu just smiled.

Miles went quiet for a full ten seconds before he poked Wayzz, "Yes Mr. Morales, I am real."

"Cool cool. Just-just checking. Quick question, what the hell are you?"

"I am the Kwami of Protection. Wayzz."

"You say that like I know what that is..."

Fu let out a small chuckle which garnered a confused look from Miles, "My apologies. I don't mean to laugh, your confusion is warranted. I'll let Wayzz explain it better."

Wayzz did a little bow before turning back to Miles, "As I explained before, I am a Kwami. While that phrase holds no meaning on your earth, here, on our world, we Kwamis are what you would consider gods. We grant powers to selected individuals, making them superheroes."

"O-okay... so," He took a moment to collect himself. "You're like magic?"

"In a sense, yes."

"Huh..." Miles let the information sink in. It truly wasn't an easy topic to unravel, but they had the time- "Wa- hold on... you said 'we', as in there's more than one of you?"

Before Wayzz could get a word out, the building shook, causing his stuff to fall off the shelves as a roar echoed throughout Paris. "What... was that?"

"That would be an Akuma," Fu said.

"A what?"

"An Akuma is someone infused with black magic transforming into a supervillain."

"Miles," Wayzz chimed. "You asked if there were more Kwamis out there. There are. And the Akuma out there is a result of one of my own being responsible. Albeit, against his own will."

He went quiet, before muttering, "Welp, guess I'll go." And getting up, retrieving the upper part of his suit, two red cylinders he put on his wrists, and the bottle of painkillers next to them.

Wayzz floated in front of his face, "Wait, where are you going?"

"To go and deal with this 'Akuma' you guys were talking about?"

"But you're injured. You need rest."

"Well, I can't just sit here and do nothing. I gotta help. If you couldn't tell, I'm a superhero."

"But-"

"Let the boy go Wayzz," Fu interjected. "If he can help any way he can, then let him."

Wayzz let out a sigh as he reluctantly let the subject go. Fu turned back to Miles, "Will you be able to handle yourself?"

Miles just smiled and said, "Probably not, but that's ain't gonna stop me."

With that, Miles opened the window door and swung away, leaving a sense of pride in the old man's chest. The boy had been poisoned, bruised, and had a shoulder wound. Yet, he was going out of his way to help in an unknown dimension filled with unfamiliar rules.

I wonder...

"What are you thinking master?" Wayzz asked.

Fu didn't answer, instead, he just smiled and said, "Come along Wayzz. We're going for a walk."

Present

God, my shoulder.

Miles landed on one of the rooftops and opened up the bottle of painkillers he borrowed from Fu's place, popping three into his mouth after saving some girl from getting turned into a red spot on the sidewalk.

Wonder what she was doing there. He thought, setting the pills down, and swung to his destination. When he got there, he found the 'Akuma' Wayzz and Fu were talking about.

It looked like some sort of gladiator and it was holding something in hands. Or, more accurately, someone. He couldn't see who the person was from his position, but it looked like the thing was trying to crush them. Like that's gonna happen.

Shooting web lines in between the Akuma's wrist, he pulled himself up, "Hey! Mind if I kick in?!" Sending a double flying front kick to its chin, dazing it, and making it let go of said person from its grasp, falling to the ground. Before gravity could take its course, he shot a web line toward the person and caught them, swing away from the carnage. He landed in an alleyway not far from where the Akuma was, but far away enough so it couldn't find them.

Taking a breath, he looked over at the girl he'd saved, she wore a red skintight jumpsuit with black polka dots. The domino mask she was wearing had the same color scheme as her suit. She looked like some sort of ladybug, her hair ties even looked like little antennas.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked, causing her to look up at him. She didn't look hurt, but he couldn't be too sure.

"Who are you...?"

"Let's just say, I'm here to help." He muttered, setting her down near one of the dumpsters.

"MIRACULOUS!!!"

The ground let loose another tremor as the Akuma let out a roar, getting up and destroying nearby buildings.

And the tremors were coming closer.

Crap, crap, crap.

Miles looked around for a hiding spot. He was going to be fine since he can turn invisible and all, but as far as he knew, the girl couldn't. He also had no idea what a 'Miraculous' was, but he was certain that she had something to do with it. But no such hiding spot was near; just a few trash cans.

And the dumpster she was sitting against.

Immediately after his eyes lad on it, he hated the plan he came up with. But there wasn't enough time to find another hiding place.

I'm going to hell for this, aren't I? Sorry mom.

With a reluctant sigh, Miles picked her up bridal style. "Hey look, uh... I'm really, REALLY sorry about this."

The girl followed his gaze when he opened the lid, and from the look on her face, she was totally against this next course of action. "Wait! Don't you dare-" She was cut off when he dropped her in and closed the lid. She banged on it a few times before going quiet as the last tremor became the strongest.

As the giant hand of the Akuma came into view, gripping the side of the building, Miles went invisible and waited.

The Akuma looming figure stood in all its glory, its head, turning to the alley he was standing in. After it scanned the alley for what felt like forever, it screamed in rage, slammed its fists on the ground causing another earthquake, and walked to the opposite end of the street as its footsteps faded.

Letting out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding in, Miles deactivated camo and went to open the lid back up. What greeted him was the girl, glaring at him with an expired banana comically placed on her head.

Yup. She's pissed."Uh... sorry, didn't really have any other choice," He extended his hand to her. "Need a hand?"

She stared at his hand, then at him, examining his mask. She took his hand and climbed out, a groan of pain emanating from her lips.

"So, I'm gonna go deal with that thing. You should probably stay here till help arrives." He turned back down the alleyway.

"Wait a minute-" She let out a pained groan before slumping back down.

"Just don't move too much, you're hurt," Miles said, jumping to the side of the alley, "Adiós." And he swung off, leaving the unknown hero to her own devices.

Damnit, now I feel like a jackass for leaving her there. He vaulted over one of the chimneys, clinging to the side of the buildings. But it's not like I could've taken her to a hospital. But from the looks of it, she's a superhero, so they might find out who she is. I'm sure she'll be fine.

Perching himself on the ledge, he eyed the so-called Akuma in confusion. It wasn't intelligent by any means, but it wasn't causing random destruction either. It was almost like it was looking for something.

"Don't think I've fought anyone that big though," He concluded. "Now, how am I going to get him to that stadium that girl was talking about?"

It stopped for a moment when it stepped on one of the already wrecked cars, kicking the ground in a fit of rage, and destroyed a nearby building. "So you get angry quickly? Good to know."

Miles noticed a chunk of debris hanging off one of the shops. He sighed, This next part's gonna suck, isn't it?

He shot a web line to the debris, before spinning it over his head, "Yo colossus! Catch!" Miles flung the debris, just in time for the Akuma to turn around, and nailed it in the side of the head, causing it to stumble. As it regained its balance, the Akuma growled in his direction.

"Hey," Miles shouted, grinning underneath his mask at the hulking giant, "Sorry, can't have you destroying the city of love. People already got enough to deal with; like thieves, car accidents, and people throwing stale baguettes at said thieves."

He gestured to the Akuma's costume, "They don't need supervillains with horrible fashion sense running around."

A purple, almost butterfly-like mask appeared over its stony grey face, making it pause.

O...kay? This just got weird.

When the mask disappeared, the Akuma turned back to Miles, slamming one of its chains down on him. He jumped out of the way and land on the side of one of the buildings, "Looks like my 'piss it off' plans working." He said.

The Akuma dug into its pockets to pull out a handful of candy and ate them. A second later, it grew two-feet-taller, adding to its humongous form, growled, and took off after Miles in a sprint.

"It'sworkingtoowell! IT'SWORKINGTOOWELL!"

And just like that, the chase was on.

At the same time

Picking himself up from the wreckage, Chat Noir used his baton to lean against as he steadied himself, "I'm alive. Somehow. Now, where's my spline?" He stretched his back until heard an audible 'pop', "Never mind, found it."

He went over to the wall he entered from and found that the Akuma was running toward something. Like most Akumas, they wanted to destroy something or get back at someone, they could be very, very vocal about it. This one though was just destroying things at random and other than wanting his and Ladybug's Miraculous, it didn't want anything else.

He couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing.

Chat stretched his shoulder with a hiss, Is this how baseballs feel? That wasn't fun. Not fun at all, that actually sucks.

"Chat Noir? You there? We might have a problem."

His ears perked up at his name being called as he looked down and saw Ladybug leaning against one of the chimneys. "Over here, my lady!" He exclaimed, dropping down from where he was and meeting her. But any witty retort he had dried up in his mouth as he saw Ladybug clutching her side.

"Ladybug, are you okay? What happen?"

"I'm fine Chat. I'm fine," She reassured him, but he wasn't buying it. "Honest. Just that I was almost turned into a stress ball. And the fact that Hawk Moth just wants our corpses instead of trying to take our Miraculous."

This new information should have been jarring Chat and Ladybug, but in all honesty, it wasn't really surprising when he akumatized a baby once.

"As long as you're ok." He sniffed the air around Ladybug before asking, "Why do you smell like garbage?"

He immediately realized his mistake when Ladybug turned to glare at him, "I-I mean, I'm not saying you stink or anything. If it's a new perfume then-"

"Chat?"

"Yes?"

"Stop talking."

"Kay."

The Akuma, who was still chasing something, roared in rage as it started throwing cars and buses. Whatever it was trying to catch, it was heading to the stadium.

"Wait," He said abruptly, turning back to his partner. "If you're here, then who's fighting the Akuma?"

Ladybug groaned as she straightened herself, "Yeah, that's part of the problem I was talking about. But I'll tell you more when we get there." She threw her yoyo to one of the chimneys. "Try to keep up!"

"Right behind you m'Lady!"

Another car whizzed past his head as he bobbed and weaved over projectiles. "Dude, could you quit throwing cars at me?! I'm not paying for any of this!"

All he got in response was another car chucked at him.

The few minutes since the Akuma started chasing him, it threw cars, buses, a building, and somehow, even a storm drain. A storm drain! How in the hell that was even remotely possible was beyond him.

Why won't today just end?!

"MIRACULOUS!!!"

His spider-sense blared as he looked over his shoulder to see a red bus with seats on top flying towards him. However, unlike the last few time, rather than letting it fly past him, he pulled himself upward, running over it and shooting two web lines to the end of it, twisting his body...

"I heard you the first time!"

...and swung it into the side of the Akuma's head, causing it to stumble and fall on top of a building. "I really hope people weren't in there..."

Swinging to the top of the stadium, Miles looked over to see if anyone was there. It was utterly deserted, save for the two soccer goals at each end. He looked back and saw the Akuma getting back up, "I feel sorry for the guy who has to clean up this next bit."

Once on its feet, the Akuma snarled at him, but Miles just lifted his mask to his nose and stuck out his tongue out, pulled his mask back down, "¡Date prisa! What, you can increase your height and size but your brains still the size of a walnut?!"

Whether it got the insult or not, the Akuma was thrown into a rage and rushed towards him, each step let out tremors. Miles knew he couldn't take on this thing with so many buildings nearby.

So, instead of fighting out in the open, he decided to introduce the Akuma to a friend of his.

And that friend was named gravity.

The Akuma was getting closer...

Not yet...

And closer...

Not yet...

And closer until it lunged at him.

Now!

As the Akuma's hand nearly grabbed him, time seemed to slow to a crawl as his spider-sense kicked in and jumped in between the Akuma's fingers, shooting a web-line to the back of its head, and sending out a kick, watching as it fell into the stadium with a thud, dense smoke covering the whole area.

"I... can't believe that actually worked..." He said, disbelief laced in his tone.

Once the smoke cleared, he saw it try and get back up, but Miles webbed up its hand, forcing it to stay in place. He activated camo, shot a web-line to its forehead, and pulled himself forward. Planting a kick to its nose and jumping off.

The Akuma, clearly not expecting him to go invisible, started to thrash around with its freehand, its chain whipping around to hit him. But since it couldn't see him, most of them missed or were near-misses. As Miles went in for blow after blow, the Akuma's attacks missing him by a mile, Miles leaped up at him and sent an uppercut to its chin. With the Akuma dazed, Miles sent venom to the side of its neck. It swatted him off, sending Miles tumbling across the field but used the momentum to push himself off the ground and landed on the guard rail.

He waited for his venom blast to take effect.

...But nothing happened.

"Uh... okay, that's probably not a good sign." The Akuma turned and glared at Miles

It yanked its hand free from the webbing and tried to squash him in between its hand, but to no avail, as he jumped out of the way and landed on one of the stadium seats incorrectly.

The Akuma picked itself up, standing at its full height and being down to size against a sixteen meters version of a gladiator was, for lack of a better word, pretty terrifying. "Kinda wishing I stayed home right now." He muttered.

The same butterfly mask appeared again, but it shrugged it off,"GOLIATH ... SQUASH INSECT!!!"

"Hey! That is insulting!" He picked himself up, "Spiders are classified as arachnids, not bugs!"

Just as the Akuma (Goliath, it called itself) was about to bring its fists down on Miles, it stopped short when the venom he planted earlier went from its neck to its torso. When it traveled to its hipline, it reacted to its belt buckle. And once it did, Goliath exploded.

Not in the fire and smoke kind of explosion, but in the blue and purple lighting kind. Miles shielded his eyes as Goliath screamed in pain as his venom blast continued its unexpected effect. "The hell?!"

When the light died down, the Akuma just stood there in a daze before falling backward with a loud boom. The smoke obscuring the whole area. Miles stared on in silence before muttering, "Did, uh... did I do that?"

He jumped down from his perch point and saw where the Akuma fell was hollowed out. As if he disappeared right on the spot.Did I just win?

Crying and sniffling could be heard further in. Curious, he went in to see who else was in there. What he found was a kid, no older than six, curled up in a ball and crying his eyes out. And occasionally wiped away the tears and snot.

This confused Miles to say the least. Where was the Akuma? He didn't just kill it.

...Did he?

Miles shook his head. Now wasn't the time, he had to get this kid back to his family.

Rushing over to him, Miles placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and shook him gently, "Hey, kid, you okay?"

No response.

All he got was the occasional sniffles. He tried again, "Look, kid, I don't think you're supposed to be here."

...Nothing.

Well, third time's the charm, "Do you... have an address I can take you to--acck!"

A sudden tightness clamped around his throat, cutting off his airway. Miles looked down to see that same kid's hand was over his throat.

The sniffling and crying turned into whimpers as some sort of black substance covered his entire being. It was bubbling, almost as if someone was taking a bubble bath and forgot to turn the water off.

Once all the black magic stuff washed off, Goliath stood in the kids' place. However, unlike when it was chasing him across Paris in its sixteen-meter height, it was now just eight-foot-tall. Must have been his base form.

Didn't make it any less terrifying though.

"Uh... no hard, ah-- feelings on the, ggkkgk-- 'knocking you unconscious' thing, right?"

That same butterfly mask hovered over its face, but it flickered in and out before disappearing entirely. Goliath then roared in his face, slammed him on the ground, and kicked him into one of the soccer goals.

"Oh... god. That hurt..." He coughed a few times before trying to stand but fell back down as the pain became too much for him and his shoulder started acting up again. Thinkhe cracked a rib. Or two.

The sound of running caused him to look up. Goliath was charging right at him, insistent on either trying to unmask him or kill him.

Neither was a good option.

Come on Miles! Move!

Once he got his bearings and when Goliath got close enough, Miles grabbed the top of the goal and using that momentum, kicked Goliath in the chin and landed on top of the bar. He staggered back, clutching his chin before scowling at him and jumping up in the air and bring both fists down on him. But all he hit was air, as Miles jumped and landed behind him.

This seemed to anger the giant even more. He threw the destroyed goal at him but Miles jumped over it and in that split second, saw that same projectile intended for him was headed straight for that girl he saved a few minutes ago at one of the tunnels of the stadium recording the whole thing.

What's she doing here?!Miles mentally screamed. But he could figure that out later if he doesn't act fast, she was gonna hurt.

He shot a web-line to the end of the goal and shot another at Goliath's arm, to which the giant pulled and yanked the string towards himself. Bring along Miles and the goal in tow.

Miles narrowly dodged over the punch that was meant for him, using his oversized arm as a springboard and transferring venom to him.

Goliath's arm seized up, barely having enough time to block the airborne goal that collided with him.

"Can you please stay down?!" Miles exclaimed, breathing heavily.

Spider-sense.

He jumped out of the way just in time to see a chain hit the ground where he was.

Guess not.

It's always a giant with a taste for destruction. Why can't they speak about peace and nonviolence?

Goliath then chucked the goal out of the stadium. Before he could do anything, that butterfly mask appeared again this time glowing with intensity, forcing Goliath to his knees.

Now Miles was confused. Was this Kwami thing and the Akuma having a falling out?

Well, bad for them...

Great for the opposition!

Miles shot a web-line to Goliath and pulled himself towards him. When he got close enough, he extended his venom-charged hand in position.

"Nighty-night-."

Goliaths' hand shot up-

-Stopping the unknown hero from doing that weird zappy thing again he used on the Akuma.

Alya knew today was going to be a great day. Not only did she ace her test (probably. maybe. hopefully.) she was also capturing exclusive, live footage of a new superhero in Paris. One, might she add, wasn't a miraculous holder since he could use the same power twice. Like, What!

So when she got saved by said hero and knew he was leading the Akuma towards the stadium, she wasn't NOT going to film it. She was ahead of them since she knew Paris like the back of her hand, but she only had more questions when they got here. What did he use on the Akuma to make it not as big as before? How was he so strong? Was that white substance coming out of him?

But at the moment, Alya thought it be best to record and stay hidden. She could geek out later.

The spider-themed hero was then slammed to the ground and flung to the wall.

"Ouch," Alya grimaced, "That's gotta hurt..."

Goliath roared. He roared and watched as the spider-themed hero crumbled to the turf. Then Goliath decided to stomp his head into the ground, so he took a running head start, leaped in the air...

"Watch out!!"

...And came back down to earth like a comet. A small cloud of dust covering the area they were in, obscuring her vision.

"Please don't be dead, spider person..."

Was she still recording? Yeah, she still recording.

The silence that lasted for what felt like an eternity finally broke when the sound of the smashing of rock could be heard. Then another when all of a sudden, that same spider person- (screw it, she's calling him Kid Arachnid) jumped out of the cloud of smoke and shot something out of his... wrist? Hands?

You'd think a guy who was just batted around like a ragdoll would be a little worse for wear, but other than the red splotch on his shoulder, he looked fine.

He landed a few feet away from the Akuma just as a chain came out to try and hit him, but dodged. As this went on for a while, the smoke around Goliath cleared and she saw that his right hand was bounded to the wall, stopping him from moving.

Huh... so that's his plan.

Alya didn't blink, of that, she was almost positive. But when the last chain failed to hit him, Kid Arachnid disappeared.

Not in the 'moving so fast he disappeared' type of thing, no, like, the next minute he was there, and then he was just gone. As confusing as it was for her, must have been mind-boggling for the thing that's been attacking him. The Akuma looked around to try and Kid Arachnid when its eyes landed on her.

Oh geez.

The Akuma grinned and readied his attack but was interrupted when his head snapped to the side. Kid Arachnid reappeared right next to Goliath-

-Giving him a small wave, "Hey."

What Miles got in response was another fist trying to smash him into the wall, to which he dodged, "Oops, you missed! Here's your consolation prize!" His webs landing a direct hit on his wrist and fist.

Once he landed safely, Miles webbed up Goliath's arms, then did the same to his legs. Afterward, he thrashed around trying to break free, and when some of the webbing started to give way, Miles applied another layer.

"You know dude," Miles trotted over to him, "Your costume design is god awful, but I love your whole 'bigger is better' thing you got goin' on. That candy you ate some sort of enlargement drug?"

Goliath roared in his face before he got a face full of webbing. "A simple no would have done just fine too..."

Miles was about to swing away when his spider-sense went off. But it was more of a tugging sensation than the standard buzzing he was used to.

It has never done this before so it was a new feeling. So, why now?

As he turned his attention back to the oversized being, his eyes landed on the Akuma's belt buckle. He went and took it off Goliath and when he did, it felt odd. The belt buckle was all black and it was pulsing, almost alive. Goliath started to thrash around even more, but the webbing held strong. "Oh yeah, so, that webbing dissolve in an hour so-"

"Passez-le ici!"

Miles turned his head to the source of the voice and saw some guy in a cat costume flagging him down from up on the stadium. Cat boy wore a black skintight leather suit, a belt on his back acting like a tail. He wore the domino mask that ladybug chick was wearing, only it was black and he had green eyes, cat ears, and a gold bell on his collar.

Is this a running theme? Do all teenage superheroes name themselves after animals? Or bugs apparently."What?!" Miles shouted back.

The cat boy blinked before shouting in English, "I said pass it here! The belt buckle!"

He stared at the bull-shaped belt buckle, then back at cat boy...

Miles... hesitantly chucked the item to the cat boy. Why did he need-?

"Cataclysme!"

Once that phrase left his mouth, his left hand began to bubble black and every hair on Miles's body stood on end as his spider-sense rang like a church bell. Miles was a couple of a hundred feet away from him at most, but spider-sense and every fiber of his being told him one thing...

STAY AWAY!

Cat boy caught it and immediately after he did, the belt buckle began to rot and decay until it crumbled into dust and a black butterfly flew out of it.

Okay... what the f-

The butterfly disappeared in a pink streak, which led back to the same ladybug girl he met earlier. She then opened her yoyo to free that same butterfly, only it was pure white instead of black. She threw something in the air while shouting, "Miraculous Ladybug!" and out of that something came out a swarm of ladybugs.

Once they did, all of the damage the Akuma caused simply vanished, as if it never happened to begin with.

Before Miles could blink, that same swarm whirled around his body. He thought it would hurt, or at the very least given off a creepy-crawly feeling, but it felt warm, like getting hugged by his parents again.

As they left, Miles flexed his arm, and to his surprise, it felt fine. Other than his shoulder wound, the rest of his body was healed.

Alright. That was cool.

Okay, NOW he can leave-

Spider-sense.

Miles jumped over the yoyo that was meant to ensnare him, leading back to the cat and ladybug duo.

"What's your name, Akuma?" Her yoyo spinning in a circle of reddish pink.

"What?" He shook his head in disapproval, "No, no! Not an Akuma! I helped, kay? So chill. Please?"

Seeing how none of them were taking his word for it, turned, leaped, and shot out a web line-

'Tiss-'

But he was out of web-fluid. Crap.

The girl's yoyo wrapped around his body, bring him down to earth. "Hey, seriously! I'm one of the good guys! Come on, you're not still mad at the whole dumpster thing are you?"

Still looking a bit confused, Cat boy turned to his partner whose face turned red as her suit glared at Miles, "You threw me in a dumpster!"

Her partner turned back to Miles, eyes widen, "You did what?!"

"If it's any consolation, I'm sorry! Didn't really have a choice. But if she hated that," Miles grabbed the other end of her yoyo. "She isn't gonna like this. Sorry!"

The venom flowed through the wire, acting as an electrical current, the shock surprising her enough to let go. Once she did, Miles broke free, scaled over the wall of the stadium, went invisible, and ran across the buildings.

"Nooroo, dark wings fall..."

Once the transformation fell, Gabriel collapsed on one knee, out of breath, and now had a splitting migraine. Nooroo hovering next to him.

Today's Akuma was so close to getting Chat Noir's and Ladybug's Miraculous. Batted one of them away like a fly and was about to crush the other in between its fist. Everything was going so well.

But then that spider hero appeared. Along with his weird electrical attack.

Who was he? That was the question plaguing his mind. He was certain that there wasn't a spider miraculous in Paris, and even if there was, the grimoire didn't mention one that can momentarily cut off and damage his connection to his Akuma.

"Sir? Are you alright?"

Gabriel turned to his assistant, she came rushing to his side after hearing him scream.

Even though today was another failure, even though it resulted in a splitting headache, he couldn't help but smile.

"Everything's fine Nathalie," They walked back to the spot leading back to the main house. "It would appear that a new player has stepped into the ring."

Chapter 4: Issue 3 (Questions and Answers)

Chapter Text

Afterward

Adrien placed his satchel down near his bed and fell face-first into his pillow with a groan after the school was closed for the day, "Home sweet home..." He didn't need to look up from his spot to know Plagg already zipped to his many Camembert stashes around his room, probably, but that wasn't his main concern.

No. No, Adrien's main concern was that spider hero that appeared out of nowhere during today's Akuma attack.

It was odd. The guy didn't appear to have any ill intentions and he did give him the Akumatized object, but due to the Volpina incident, he and Ladybug took new unknown super-hero appearances that weren't a part of the miraculous box with a grain of salt.

He looked up to see Plagg messing around with his computer, "Hey Plagg, is there a spider Miraculous in Paris?"

The tiny god of destruction picked up a piece of Camembert, threw it up in the air, and ate it, not looking away from whatever he was watching, "Yeah, there's a spider Miraculous."

Adrien smiled. At least his existence made some sense because no normal human could do what he did.

"But there isn't one in Paris."

And back to square one. "You just said there was a spider Miraculous."

"I did. I also said there isn't one in Paris. Besides, he's not using a Miraculous anyways."

Now Adrien was confused. "What does that mean?"

"It means kid," He flew up away from the computer and pointed at the screen. "That you should look at the video your ladyblogger friend put up. Now if you excuse me, I have a date with yummy, gooey Camembert." Plagg disappeared into one of the cabinets.

Oh right, Alya was there before Ladybug and I got there.

Adrien got up from his spot and made his way towards his computer. The Ladyblog site was already up with a new video titled 'New Mystery Hero?' Apparently, Alya named the guy 'Kid Arachnid'.

He clicked play.

The video started with the usual scene; Chat Noir and Ladybug fighting the Akuma, him getting batted across Paris, Adrien rubbed his side after remembering that particular incident, and the screen cut to black.

Alya started recording again after that same hero appeared on top of the stadium where he just waited, then turned invisible. And a few seconds into the video, he used some sort of electric attack on the Akuma.

But that should be impossible. Unless a Miraculous was involved, and Plagg just said the guy wasn't a Miraculous holder, there is no way, whatever he was doing, is physically possible.

Unless...

"Hey, Plagg," The tiny god flew out of his cabinets with an annoyed expression on the Kwamis face. "Can the spider Miraculous turn the user invisible? Or, like, use electricity as a weapon?"

He was too proud to admit it, but Adrien agreed.

”So why are you and Ladybug so up in arms about this guy?” Plagg asked.

”That’s the thing Plagg; this guy-“

"-literally appeared out of nowhere Tikki!"

Marinette paced around her bedroom, Tikki sitting on top of her computer mushing on a cookie after seeing the video Alya posted. "But isn't this a good thing? It means you and Chat Noir have an extra set of hands in finding HawkMoth."

"That's the same thing Volpina said, and she was an Akuma masquerading as a hero!”

Truth be told, Marinette didn't think that this ‘Kid Arachnid’ was all bad. Although that little zapping power of his made her body go numb for a bit, he did help them defeat the Akuma and saved her and Alya, but that didn't mean he could get a free pass.

Okay, maybe she can say thanks for saving them. If she can find him.

And it had nothing to do with her still being bitter over the fact that he threw her in a dumpster. Nope. That wasn't it at all.

"You can't let one bad experience affect your outlook." Tikki flew over to Marinette and placed a paw on her cheek. “Maybe he's working for HawkMoth, maybe he isn't. But I think you should give him a chance. It sounds like he wants to help."

Marinette tried to retort, but Tikki continued, "And before you argue, consider this; if he really was working for HawkMoth, don't you think he would've taken your miraculous when you were injured?”

Marinette didn't have a retort to that. She knew Tikki was right, but that didn't make Kid Arachnid’s existence make any more sense.Maybe she can ask Master Fu later on when she had the time. He probably knows something.

A knock came from her door.

Tikki flew behind one of the pillows. Outta sight, outta mind.

Alya poked her head into the doorway, climbing up, “Girl, you're not gonna believe what happened today!”

“R-really? I mean...” Marinette pointed at her computer screen. “I can try guessing.”

“Sweet, you already saw it.” She plopped down on the couch and set her bag next to her. "So... what do ya think?"

"Of the video? Or Kid Arachnid"

"Kid Arachnid, duh."

"Oh, well, you don't think he's working for HawkMoth or something?" She already knew the answer, but she needed a third opinion.

Alya gave her look as if she told her the earth was flat. "No for three reasons; one, the guy saved my life. Two, unless he became Scarlet Moth, he can't akumatize multiple people at once. And three, I'm pretty sure he's from New York."

So I was right, he is from America. But why come to Paris? Wait...

"How do you know he's from New York?" Marinette suddenly asked.

"Well," Alya pulled out her phone to see a few sentences were typed and translated from English from French. "This was the conversation we had after he saved me. And when he tried to talk to me, he had a little bit of a Brooklyn accent."

"So, you think he's a part of United Heroez?"

"Well, no, because..." Alya got up from her seated position and made her way towards the computer. "Let me just show you what I found."

Alya began typing away, "After Kid Arachnid's made his appearance, I started to look up any references about him anywhere. But instead, I found this."

Giving her some space to see the screen, the search result showed a few newspaper articles about some serial killer named 'Wolf Spider'. Marinette clicked on one of them that read;

'WOLF SPIDER STRIKES AGAIN'

'JAYLYN CORWIN, 34, FOUND DEAD'

"Jesus..." Marinette breathed, seeing as how his victims were left hanging in cocoons with chunks of their throats bitten off and their wrists slit. The blood writing on the wall next to them read 'BEWARE OF THE SPIDER'S BITE' "And they still haven't caught the guy?." Alya shook her head.

"Nope. Majestia and the other superheroes are still trying to find him, no such luck though. But I have a theory."

Marinette gave her a deadpan expression. While Alya's theories, while spot-on, were outlandish at best. But as her best friend, she chose to keep her mouth shut.

Besides, it not like her theories could get any crazier...

"Okay, so, what if Kid Arachnid and Wolf Spider are related?"

I was wrong, it can get crazier.

"Alya..."

"Before you discredit me, hear me out," Alya reached into her bag, pulled out a notebook, and started pacing the room. "What if, before he started killing people, he had a son? And that son didn't know about his dad's murders because the mom wanted to protect him from it, but the dad killed the mom in retaliation. So you know what the son does?"

"Seek therapy after seeing his mom die?"

"Starts to train to become a superhero! But since New York isn't really fond of superhuman spiders, he comes to Paris for a new start, a clean slate." She sat back down, facing Marinette. "So, what do you think?"

Externally, Marinette entertained Alya's theory and congratulated her on being the first person to talk to the guy, promising her some of André's ice cream. Internally, however, all she had were more questions on top of the unanswered ones. And while the information Alya gave was helpful, it wasn't what she was looking for.

She got up and made her way to her purse with Tikki inside it. "Hey, I'm gonna head out for a bit. You can hang out here if you want."

"Alright. See you when you get back." As she made it down the stairs, Alya shouted, "And call me if Kid Arachnid shows up!"

Trust me, Alya, if I see him again, I'll do more than call you.

"So let me get this straight." Miles set his teacup down, Fu closing up his shoulder wound that reopened. "There's this supervillain who calls himself 'HawkMoth' who uses something called a 'butterfly Miraculous' to use the negative emotions of other people and turn them into other supervillains? Ow."

"Akumas, yes."

"And Paris's heroes, Ladybug and Chat Noir, also have Miraculouses but --ow-- they use theirs to fight and purify these Akuma before they get out of hand?"

"Correct."

"And these Miraculous are powered by beings known as kwamis? Beings like Wayzz? Ow! Easy!"

"Apologies," Fu began wrapping his wound in bandages. "Perhaps next time don't fight with an injured shoulder. Also, yes. "

After the fight with Goliath and his confrontation with Ladybug and Chat Noir, Fu found him in an alleyway and Miles came with him for two reasons. One: his shoulder was in a worse condition than he thought, and two: he didn't really have any other place to go. So, here he was, getting stitched up by an old man who knew more than he's letting on, in a city where if you're angry or depressed, you turned into a supervillain.

Fun.

Pete's somehow to blame for all this. I don't know how, but he is.

Miles flexed his shoulder, it only hurt if he moved it a certain way, but other than that it was fine. "There's one thing I don't get. Why does he need their Miraculous?"

Fu finished putting the medical supplies away and faced him. And in a saddened tone asked, "If you had the chance to wish for something, what would it be?"

Miles quieted down, his mind drifting back to a time where he was just a stupid kid who didn't know what to do with the hand fate dealt him and it got someone he loved killed. "Well, if we're being honest, I... I would wish for my uncle back."

The old man sighed as if expecting an answer like that. "And what if I told you you would be able to get him back, but not without a cost."

"Oh, I get it. Wish to become rich, someone else becomes dirt poor. Wish for beauty, someone else becomes the next ugly duckling." Miles paused before saying, "Wish for a dead relative to come back to life..."

"And somebody else father, mother, brother, sister, aunt, or uncle dies. Yes."

Miles could hardly believe it. No, scratch that. He could believe it. No matter which earth he was going to end up on, he was almost positive that every earth had at least one megalomaniac who didn't care how many people got hurt, mentally or physically, as long as he got what he wanted. What he could hardly believe is that power like that existed.

But there's no way their powers don't have some sort of draw-back. Hold on...

"Yo, Wayzz," The Kwami flew over to him in a green streak. "You said Ladybug and Chat Noir have Kwamis too, right? So, don't you tiny guys have a way to communicate with each other?"

"There is a way, yes." Wayzz turned back to Fu and as if in silent agreement, nodded and turned back to Miles. "Kwamis can communicate with their kind on their cycle or birthday."

"¡Dulce! Uh, when's HawkMoth Kwami's birthday or whatever?" Why did this feel too easy?

"To put it in human terms, Nooroo's next cycle is in other hundreds of years."

Oh... that made more sense.

Fu let out a hearty chuckle after seeing Miles's fallen expression till he got up to leave. "Well, thanks for patching me up Fu but I gotta get going."

"Okay," Fu said. "Go where?"

That question gave Miles pause. While it's true he didn't have any other place to go, but he didn't want to trouble the old man any more than he has. "I mean, I can't just stay here. I gotta get home."

"If I'm not mistaken, your home is on your earth, not on this one correct?"

"Yeah, sure, but-"

"And whilst you're trying to get back home, where will you sleep? How will you get food? Do you even know how to get back to your earth?"

"..."

The old man's face went neutral after blowing holes into Miles's logic. He then turned away from Fu.

Yes, he didn't have a plan to get back home, and yes he didn't exactly have a temp home when visiting other earths, it's not like he could ask Fu if he could stay.

Could he?

Miles let out an annoyed groan before facing him, "Fu... Is it possible for me to, uh, stay here for the time being-"

"Of course."

"Just for a little while! I-" Miles blinked. "Wait, really?"

Fu nodded, "It wouldn't exactly be great on my conscience if I let a fourteen-year-old wonder the streets of Paris alone at night."

"I'm fifteen, but whatever. I-I do have one question more though." He swallowed the lump in his throat before asking, "How do you know what you know?"

The silence was deafening as if Miles asked something he shouldn't have. Before anyone could say anything, Miles' head buzzed a split-second before someone knocked on the door, and in a moment he lept through the air to land on the ceiling and scrambled into a corner, shooting a web line to his clothes. "Maître Fu? Êtes-vous là?" The voice asks.

Did she say 'Master'?

Fu seemed to know who the voice belonged to as he motioned Miles to stay where he was.

The door opened, but due to the angle, Miles couldn't see who was in the doorway. He moved in closer to see a slender teenage girl of average height with medium-length black hair that looked blue at certain angles that were tied back in two pigtails. Her bluebell-colored eyes complemented her light freckles on both sides and the bridge of her nose.

She wore a dark gray blazer with rolled-up sleeves; the inside of the blazer seemed to be lined in white with pink polka dots and black trimming. Underneath, she wore a white t-shirt with black stitching and a flower design below the collar. She was also wearing pink rolled-up jeans and pink ballet flats.

I'll give her this, the girl knows her fashion.

"Marinette," Fu said after locking eyes with Miles for a moment before turning his attention to pigtails. "Je suis un peu occupé en ce moment, pourriez-vous revenir une autre fois?"

The girl Marinette seemed surprised but nodded, "Très bien. Je ... à plus tard, Maître." The door slid shut.

Miles breathes a sigh of relief and drops to the ground. "She seemed... nice. Also, 'Master'?"

Wayzz and Fu stared at Miles for a bit before the Kwami turned to the old man. "I think we should tell him, Master."

"Are you sure Wayzz?" Fu asked, seemingly surprised at the tiny magical being's suggestion.

"Miles here has shared his private information with us, and if he is to stay with us, he should at least know who he's staying with."

The old man and The Kwami seemed to be having a mental conversion, one that he wasn't apart. Fu sighed as he walked over to some old Chinese Gramophone record player with dragons on the front of it, "I suppose a re-introduction is in order."

He pressed both of the dragons' eyes which opened up a bunch of buttons that required some sort of code, as he punched in said code, Miles took a sudden interest in the ceiling. He looked back to Fu after the top half of the record player opened to reveal a box with Chinese engraves on the top of the box. Fu faced him and the face of the kind old who healed him was replaced with someone who has seen things; big and small, good and bad.

The face of a seasoned veteran.

"My name is Wang Fu. And I am the guardian of the Chinese Miracle Box."

"...What?"

That evening

On top of a rooftop near the Eiffel tower

You know, if I look at it from a certain perspective, Paris at night looks like New York a little bit. So... it's almost like I never left?

Miles groaned into his hands, "Who am I kidding, there ain't no place like New York."

Once Fu and Wayzz explained what a 'guardian of a miracle box' was, they agreed that if Miles was going to live on their earth, for the time being, he should at least wear something besides his costume. So the rest of the day consisted of him following Fu like a duckling while invisible looking for some clothes. When they found some, the sun had come and gone, and Fu thought It would be a good idea for him to go out and get his surroundings.

Miles assumed it was code for 'get out there and do something instead of being in here and doing nothing.'

He had also informed Miles that he was going to school in the foreseeable future.

Yay...

Miles also had one cartridge of webbing left, which he really didn't want to waste

"Screw it." Miles got and stretched. "I'll just hop around town and-"

Something tipped off his spider-sense, nothing too important but it was enough to tell him someone was coming.

He whipped his head just in time to see Ladybug and Chat Noir landing a few feet away.

None of them moved or said anything for what felt like minutes of awarded silence. He should say something, anything. So, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey."

Chapter 5: Issue 4 (Some Team Assembly Required)

Chapter Text

A few minutes ago

Marinette snapped her yoyo shut after watching Nadja's news broadcast, letting out a sigh. Apparently, everyone in their mother saw Alya's video, and already people were coming up with their theories where Kid Arachnid came from. A majority believed that he was a miraculous holder that Ladybug enlisted.

She didn't.

Others believed that he was the result of some sort of illegal experimentation by some secret evil organization.

What was their name again? Something about snakes... Hydra?She scoffed. That was probably the most absurd one up there, along with the theory that he was a spider-turned-human. Or he got bit by one.

All three of them were ludicrous.

Some believed he was an alien, coming from an unknown planet to earth, though his intentions were unclear. And he wasn't well known, which was why people gave their fan theories.

"Good evening Bugaboo! You're looking lovely as ever."

Despite the numerous times she told him not to call her that, a smile crept upon her face. She turned to him, "I thought I told you to stop calling me that Chatton."

"I'll stop when it stops rolling off the tongue M'Lady! Although," The grin he had on his face fell slightly while still keeping his playful aura. "You didn't call me here just to compare nicknames. If I had to guess, it has something to do with our recent spider problem."

She chuckled. "Nothing gets by you, huh? So, what do you think?"

Chat sat down beside her with a thoughtful expression on his face, "Well, I can't hate someone I don't even know. So, he's kinda in the grey area of liking someone. But do you think M'Lady?"

God. What did she think?

She was basically on the same boat as Chat Noir, not exactly hating the guy. Just being cautious is all.

And although it would be nice if she got an apology for the dumpster incident, as well as a little bit of payback, it wasn't really at the top of her priority list. "I mean, I do want to thank him for saving my life and Alya's. And taking care of the Akuma for us."

"...But?"

"But," She sighed, Chat always knew when something was getting to her. "I don't know. We don't even know where he came from or what he wants. I guess what I'm saying is that he's someone to be cautious of in case he isn't on our side."

Honestly, she hoped he was. Like Tikki said, the more permanent heroes to help them find HawkMoth and purify his Akumas, the better.

"Because you think he might be working for HawkMoth? Like Volpina was?" He said coming to the same conclusion she did.

"Yeah. But it'd be so much easier if we can talk to the guy in person." Couse, she knew that wouldn't be easy, but it wasn't impossible either. It's not like he was out in Paris doing god knows what because that would be-

"I mean, I think that's him sitting a few buildings over."

That made her do a double-take. "Wait, what?"

Chat pointed over to a building not far from where they were. The silhouette of a person was perched on the building; not too far that he was out of view, but close enough that she could somewhat tell who it was. Ladybug used the camera function on her yoyo and zoomed in on the figure.

Sure enough, he was there. Full costume and everything. "It can't be that easy... right?"

"Who knows. Maybe we're just lucky." Chat let out a small chuckle before straightening out. "So, what's the play M'Lady?"

Marinette rubbed the back of her neck, standing up. "We'll just talk to him, nothing too drastic. And if he is working for HawkMoth-"

"We'll take him down. Like we always do." He slung his arm around her shoulder. "But have you thought of what to say when we talk to him?"

Not in the slightest, no."We'll burn that bridge when we come to it." She shrugged his arm off before throwing her yoyo and tugged, "We'll just ask him some questions, shouldn't be that difficult. Or awkward, I guess."

Never took Ladybug as a liar. This is very, very awkward.

From the call he got from Ladybug, Adrien assumed that they were gonna talk about Kid Arachnid (not a great name, but it was the only thing to call him at the moment), patrol for a bit, and be done for the night. What he didn't expect, however, was to find that same hero just sticking on a random chimney. How does he do that, anyway?It made finding him easier, sure, but he wished it was under different circ*mstances.

And less... awkward ones.

Someone, please say something. Anything!

And then, by some grace from whatever god was out there, Kid Arachnid answered with a slow and long 'hey'. Adrien was grateful that the tense atmosphere faded somewhat, but that 'hey' sounded like some sort of pick-up line in his head. Just a little though.

Taking Kid Arachnid breaking the silence into account, Adrien was the first to come up with a response, "Hello there! If I had to guess, I think you crawled into the wrong parlor spider friend."

Somehow he made one lens on his mask raised his brow before putting his hands up defensively, "Hey, don't blame me, ¡Niño gato! Not my fault you guys have exotic foods I can't get back home. And if I knew you guys have some sort of claw and order going on I would've left."

The next few words escaped Adrien at this moment.

This guy...

He can make puns.

And he fires back!

Adrien turned his head to see Ladybug's face. It reminded him of that one meme of that kid whose face practically screamed 'Dude... Seriously?'

Never in all the time, he's been Chat Noir did he ever want this guy on their side and not a secret agent working for HawkMoth.

Oh, this is gonna be fun! Wait, did he just call me 'Catboy'?

"Speaking of claw and order," Kid Arachnid pointed a finger at Ladybug. "She not gonna attack me again, is she?"

Ladybug, who was silent for the whole ordeal, seemed to find the words she was looking for. "Right, uh, first off, I'm sorry for attacking you out of the blue like that. It's just, y'know, I thought you were another supervillain."

"How do you confuse someone who's trying to help with a supervillain?"

"Well, let's just say it's been a very," She let out a tired chuckle. "VERY odd and stressful couple of months."

Of that sentiment, Adrien could agree with.

Days full of Chinese lessons, fencing classes, photoshoots, and other extracurricular activities that he really didn't want to do but kept his father happy, coupled with late nights fighting Akumas and Sentimonsters made staying awake at all was, and still is, a daunting task.

And who knows what Ladybug had to deal with outta costume.

God, I need a nap.

"Uh... my condolences, I guess?" Kid Arachnid awkwardly shrugged. "Sorry about the dumpster thing by the way."

"It's all good." She coughed into her fist. "Right. Secondly, who are you exactly?"

"Of course you're gonna start with that question." Kid Arachnid sighed. "Fine."

He flipped off the chimney and stood at full height before clearing his throat. "Ok, well, I'm Spider-Man."

"I meant your real name."

"That's classified information Puntos."

Ladybug blinked, seeming confused while Adrien snorted, causing Ladybug to turn to him. "What? What'd say?"

"N-nothing... it's just," He let out a few chuckles. "'Puntos' means 'Spots'."

The tip of her ears turned pink and she sent a glare at Spider-Man, not liking the nickname. Spider-Man, however, just shrugged. "Okay 'Spider-Man', why are you here?"

"Would you believe me if I said I fell from a hole in the sky?"

She snapped her fingers. "Oh, so you're an alien."

"What? No! I said from a hole in the sky, not from space! Why would I-."

Wait, were they seriously leaving out one more crucial detail?! "Sorry, hang on, can we just-- can we go back to the name thing?"

The other two turned to Adrien, giving him the floor. Because something had to be said, and he was going to be the one to say it. "So, you said your superhero name's 'Spider-Man', right?"

"Yeaaaah... so?" Spider-Man sounded confused. Ladybug looked just as confused. How they were even remotely confused was beyond him. How could they miss this when it was staring them right in their faces?

"Chat-"

"This will take one sec M'lady, I promise." He turned back to Spider-Man. "Okay, so, I'm gonna be completely honest with you here, and don't take this the wrong way. Your name kinda sucks."

Ladybug tried to mask her chuckle with a cough but failed, while Spider-Man sounded taken aback. "I... what?"

"Yeah. I mean, I like the suit, the color scheme reminds me of a captivating lady I know," The same lady gave him a deadpan look. "But, have you considered changing it?"

"Oh, okay Mr. 'Naming Expert'. What do you think that's better than Spider-Man and why should I change it?" Adrien didn't understand why he sounded so annoyed, he was just giving a helpful suggestion.

"Well, you're not a man yet, since you're like, what, fourteen years old, so you're more of a 'Spider-Boy' than anything." When he was met with silence, he kept going. "Not that one? I mean, I have two more; like 'Crime-Fighting Spider' or 'Spiderling'. But if you don't like any of those, you could always stick with Kid Arachnid."

Spider-Man stood in, what seemed like stunned silence, before answering. "Alright. Two things: first off, I'm fifteen. Secondly, you don't like my name because I'm not, what, in my mid-thirties or something?"

"I was thinkin' more mid-twenties, but yeah."

"Well, by that logic, Puntos over here should be called Girlbug-"

"I'm literally just standing here."

"-and your name should be Kitty Noir!"

Adrien let out a hearty laugh, "Jokes on you, 'Kitty Noir' sounds like a purr-fect fit for me."

Ladybug cleared her throat to catch their attention, looking pretty annoyed. Her face looked cute that way though. "Can we get back on topic please?"

"Uh... right," He side-eyed Adrien before addressing Ladybug. "Look, I'm gonna be completely honest here, I didn't know you two even existed. Or that a HawkMoth, Akumas, or magic was a thing till today. But I'm telling you now that I don't want your jewelry and I am NOT working this HawkMoth asshole, I... I just want to help until I find a way back home."

He didn't know what Ladybug was thinking, but Adrien could tell from the sincerity in his voice, he was the truth. But just because he was telling the truth, didn't mean he fully trusted him. Don't get him wrong, he didn't seem like a threat, but with his and Ladybug's history of unknown 'superheroes' trying to help...

Yeah, they didn't want to make it into a habit.

A smash of glass interrupted what Ladybug was about to say next, causing all of them to turn to the sound. Whatever was happing was going on a few buildings over. "Raincheck?" Spider-Man asked.

"Raincheck." Both Ladybug and Adrien said in unison. Adrien tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey since we'll be working together, I've been wondering, how do you stick to walls?" He didn't realize it, but Ladybug was wondering the same thing.

"You gonna tell me why you smell like rotten cheese?"

"No."

"Then I guess we'll both keep our secrets." And just like that, they all either swung or vaulted to their destination.

By the time the three made it, a group of thugs were robbing a jewelry store.

Now, in Marinette's opinion, this was a smart move pulling this at night. Most people would be sleeping by now and those who weren't probably already called the police, but the robbers would be long gone by the time they got here.

Good thing Paris has me and Chat Noir.She glanced over to Spider-Man who met her eye and gave her a small and awkward wave. Guess this guy counts too. I still don't know if I can trust him or not.

Getting a better look at him, he seemed eager to help. Still, it's better to keep him at arm's length to see if he was trustworthy or not. Maybe this current situation would show if he was really genuine about wanting to help and wasn't just another version of Queen Bee.

She opened the hatch to the skylight and from what they could see, there were six of them in the store. The first two were armed with rifles keeping a lookout in the front, the other three were smashing the glass displays with crowbars and putting the jewelry into backpacks, and the last one was trying to crack open the safe in the back. All of them were wearing masks thugs wear in movies.

Now the question is where did they come in from?

"Alright, so what's the plan M'lady?"

She hummed, "Chat, you take the ones with the guns, I'll deal with the other three. Spider-Man, can you-" But she turned to him, only to find a space next to Chat Noir where Spider-Man was supposed to be empty.

Did- did that sonuvabitch just leave us here?!

Chat, who was standing right next to him, looked confused, "Where'd he- I didn't even see him leave." He muttered.

Marinette sighed, disappointed but not surprised. "It's fine. Just means that he was full of sh*t about helping."

Her expectations were low, to begin with, so it wasn't any skin off her back. Though Chat seemed like he didn't share the same sentiment.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, don't think about it too much. We've been doing good with just the two of us, right?"

Chat hesitated, then nodded with a small smile. "Your right. Even if it's us against the world-"

"-We'll stick together. Like always." They did their signature fist bump and forgot all about Spider-Flaker.

Well, at least for a while.

"Evening fellas!"

Marinette's and Chat's eyes widened and looked down in the building to find Spider-Man hanging upside down on his web string.

Now Marinette was surprised and confused. Surprised because she thought he was just all talk and didn't expect him to pull through.

But she was also confused because she didn't see him enter the store in the first place. So how did he-

Her gaze shifted to another hatch in the skylight across from them. Yeah. That makes more sense.

"Y'know," Spider-Man started. "Pretty sure you're supposed to put the jewelry inthe displays, not take them out."

The thug closest to him recovered first and with a yell, took a wild swing at him. Spider-Man pulled himself up to dodge it and in that same motion, twisted himself around...

"Strike one!"

...and kicked the thug to the wall, using his webbing to make him stick there, and with a grace of an experienced acrobat, landed on top of one of the displays they haven't touched yet.

On their way here, Marinette started asking him questions about his abilities. But he wouldn't go into detail, all that he told them was that his hands were super sticky and that he used something called his ‘web-shooters’ to swing around and used them to stick enemies to walls or other surfaces. He must've had a device that allowed him to go invisible like he did at the stadium.

"So, who's next?" That question snapped everyone's stupor as the two thugs in the front pointed their guns at him.

I really hate spiders.

She and Chat jumped inside, sending her yoyo out to one of the thug's guns, and used it to knock the other thug's gun out of his hand as they both clattered to the ground. Chat Noir extended his baton enough that there was an audible crack as the guns broke in half.

"Hello robbers," Chat smirked and leaned against his baton. "Hope you guys don't mind, but Ladybug and I brought a friend over. You know what they say, three heads are better than two."

"...Get them!" One of the thugs shouted.

The first unarmed thug threw a right hook at Marinette, she dodged and sent a knee to his stomach. She then rapped her yoyo around his ankle and launched him into his buddy. Marinette threw her yoyo up to the ceiling as they collided and pulled a part of it down onto the thugs, knocking them out.

She turned around to see that Chat Noir and Spider-Man were done with their pair. The two Chat Noir was dealing with were on the floor knocked out and the one behind the counter webbed against the wall.

All in all, it wasn't bad for their first unofficial team-up.

There was just this one teeny-tiny detail she couldn't really ignore...

WebsMcGee went in without a plan!

She sent a glare his way and stomped forward, "What was that? You went in without a plan!"

He leaned against the broken displays, crossing his arms. "I did have a plan, actually. Well, I was making it up as I went along, but still a plan. I do leave a note before I go so do any of you guys have a pen?"

Chat Noir shrugged, "Not... not on me, no. What about you Ladybug?"

She furrowed her brow. Was he doing this on purpose? "No I don't, and that's not the point!" Marinette took a deep breath, "Look if we're going to continue working as partners you can't just do whatever you like."

"Partners?" He asked, "Oh, okay, I see what's going on. Hate to break it to ya Lugares, but I'm more of a lone wolf kind of guy. Or, lone spider, if you want to get technical. So-"

The back swung open revealing a seventh thug. "Hey, you guys got the goods? We're gonna be rich to... night..."

The smirk he had on his face immediately fell as his eyes landed on the heroes and saw his friends lying on the ground unconscious.

He pulled out a pistol. Marinette sent her yoyo out to snagged the gun out of his hand. It connected, but in doing so, Spider-Man's webbing connected with her line, and it stuck to the wall. The thug was blinded by his webbing and Chat knocked him out with his baton.

A beat of silence passed until Chat Noir patted Spider-Man on the back. "Nice working sticking to it, webhead."

"Yeah, great. Now, do you mind unsticking my yoyo, please?”

He stared at her before he coughed into his fist. "Alright, I've got good news and bad news; the webbing dissolves in an hour... sooooo..."

If Chat made a pun with the word 'bug-eyed' due to her expression, he would've got a pass. "How was any part of that good news?!"

"Well, it's not like you're going to be stuck there forever. You just have to wait, y'know? And I would love to help, but I have a curfew, so it was nice working with you guys. Adiós." He swung away, leaving them in the store dumbfounded and more pissed off at the guy than before.

Well, Marinette was. Chat Noir seemed disappointed that he couldn't ask any more questions.

I really REALLY hate spiders.She tugged the yoyo to get it loose but to no avail. "What's this stuff made of aways?"

"Don't worry M'lady, I'll get you out of this 'sticky situation'."

.

.

.

"You were just waiting to use that, weren't you?"

"Yeah. It was bonded to happen anyways."

Chapter 6: Issue 5 (First Day of School. Again...)

Chapter Text

Paris, France

Tuesday, April 16

New backpack and supplies?

Check.

Full web-shooters and costume under his clothes?

Check check.

A brand new phone Fu somehow acquired?

Check check check.

And a little flip-note that he can read to speak some french?

Checkity-check check.

Grabbing his backpack from the side of his temp-bed, he made his way out of the guest bedroom that Fu prepared for him. The old man somehow got him enrolled in a high school called 'Françoise Dupont'.

Miles bumped into one of their teachers when he was running an errand for Fu. She was a nice lady, Ms. Dimitri Mendeleiev. She gave him an extra chemistry set that she bought one too many of for her students after he told her he dabbled in chemistry. Ergo, he was able to make more webbing that way.

It's been four days since he arrived on this earth, and in that four days, he confirmed a few things.

One; Chat Noir and Ladybug seemed to have a handle on the Akumas that pop up now and then. They were bizarre though, one of them even named themselves 'Bakerix' because, well, he was made entirely out of bread and kept shouting 'That's not how it works!' every time someone was using a piece of technology.

Miles helped out, of course, making sure civilians weren't in the crossfire of Akuma attacks and gave Ladybug and Chat Noir enough time to come up with a plan, but as soon as her Miraculous Ladybug swept through Paris he would leave almost immediately to avoid getting questioned by police or media outlets.

No publicity is good publicity, after all.

Two; getting a job on this earth was stupidly easy. With the help of Wayzz and Fu, Miles could now hold up a decent conversation in french. He got a job delivering packages, although he had to make sure no one was watching him turn invisible when he was running across rooftops.

And three; the cellular decay that affected Peter, Gwen, and the other spiders hasn't happened to him yet.

Miles had difficulty sleeping the first two nights because his mind kept drifting to every possible why it hasn't happened yet. Maybe his biology was different from the others and he was gonna be fine, maybe he wasn't and it was just taking its sweet time and it was going to happen somewhere down the line.

He told Fu about it, but the old man just sipped his tea and said 'fate is like a river, Miles, and you are the boat. You must let the current run its course, only then will you find the answers you're looking for.'

Gee, thanks Yoda's brother. That definitely eases my worries.

It didn't.

Miles found Fu sitting down with Wayzz drinking a cup of tea and reading a book he bought in the main room. How a tiny being like Wayzz holding a teacup built for people was beyond him, but he assumed it was magic, so, whatever.

"Welp," Miles declared. "I'm off. See you guys later."

"No breakfast?" Fu asked, not looking up from his book.

"Nah. Since the spider bite, I can go without breakfast most days. So I should be fine 'till lunch."

"A shame." Fu set his book and teacup down, Wayzz followed after him, grabbed his cane, and made his way to the door. But not before giving Miles an all-knowing smile. "I hear the bakery near your new school is absolutely divine. I hope you have an excellent first day."

And just like that, he left.

Now, Miles hasn't known Fu for that long, but he knew that smile. It was the same smile his mom made every time she tried to set him up on a 'hot date'. And Fu was no different.

Nice try Wang. But I've got bigger things to worry about than scoring a girlfriend. So there's no way-

"Oh. By the way," Fu turned back around to face Miles. "They also make the best macarons in Paris."

...Danmit.

🐞🐈‍⬛🕷️

Françoise Dupont

And thus, today marked the day Miles Morales sold his soul for a bunch of pastries.

The sign of the bakery read 'Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie.' Even before he went inside, a tasty smell hit his nose.

Whatever they were making must've just come out of the oven.

The bell on the door chimed as he walked in, alerting the people behind the counter to his arrival.

"Bienvenue à la pâtisserie Tom et Sabine Boulangerie," a short, round faced woman said with a warm, friendly smile. She had Asian features and dark, black hair, "Je suis Sabine. Comment puis-je vous aider aujourd'hui?"

All I got from that was 'Sabine.' Guessing that this lady. Miles approached the counter, fished out his flip-note, and began to try and speak french. But due to his inexperience, sounded incoherent since Ms. Sabines' face was laced with confusion. Danmit.

Her eyes widened slightly before she spoke in English. "I'm guessing French isn't your first language, is it?"

Miles did a happy little dance in his head. Maybe there was a god after all. "Nah, I just moved here last week. Not a lot of time to learn another language on the fly."

”It’s alright. I understand. I used to live in Shanghai before I married my husband and moved to Paris."

"Oh, Congratulations."

"Thank you," She let out a small laugh. "So what can I get for you today?"

Miles looked over the selection of baked goods, his gaze fell on the croissants, full and golden. It wasn't going to fill him up, but it would suffice until lunch. His stomach rumbled as the woman smiled knowingly.

"I'll uh... take these." He commented, pointing at one of the croissants.

Sabine smiled wider, "You're in luck. Fresh out of the oven this morning.”

Alright, fine. That does sound good.

As the woman went about wrapping Miles's purchase, he could hear frantic footsteps above him. Whoever it was, they must be running late for something. Mrs. Sabine did mention that she was married, so maybe it was her-

"I don't recall seeing you around here before. Are you headed to school, Mr..."

"Morales. Miles Morales," Was his reply, "I wanted to go to school here, but my parents couldn't come with me. So, I'm living with my grandpa for the time being. But I haven't been to this part of town."

Sabrine hummed, ringing up Miles’s purchase. "So, where are you from?"

"New York," Miles said, paying her the appropriate amount, "Although Paris ain't nothing like New York, that's for sure."

"You'll get used to it soon enough." She handed Miles his croissant, before extending her hand, "Well, welcome to Paris. I’m Sabine Cheng."

Miles returned the greeting, shaking Sabine’s hand. He then took the croissant out of the bag and took a bite.

.

.

.

He was speechless.

Because this was the best damn croissant he ever tasted. When Miles realized that he ate the croissant whole, he let a small whine, causing Mrs. Cheng to laugh a little.

He coughed into his fist, "Um, thanks for the croissant. But I should probably get going."

"You're quite welcome. Will we be seeing you again?"

"You bet. See ya!" With that, Miles made his way to his new school. Hopefully, he can go the rest of the day without being Spider-Man.

Now, the principal told me to find which teacher again?

If I hear one more thing about Spider-Man, I'm gonna lose it.

It was all day with this; Spider-Man this, Spider-Man that, 'oh my god did you see Spider-Man swing around last night?', 'how do you think he sticks to walls like that?' Even Lila was joining on this Spider-Man fad, cooking up her lies as usual. Saying something along the lines of 'he was seen at my old school a few times.' Marinette wouldn't wish sticking Lila's lies on anyone.

Well, except HawkMoth, but that was beside the point.

Now, she didn't hate Spider-Man to any extent, but she was getting annoyed in recent events. Because a) he just ups and leaves after Akuma battles, b) he was like a more annoying version of Chat Noir, something she did NOT need, and c)...

Actually, that was it. Just those two things.

So here she was, sitting in the bathroom stall while the rest of her class are going gaga over 'Chat 2.0.'

And the only reason people were even calling him that was because, after one of the Akuma battles, he announced to everyone in earshot that his name was Spider-Man.

"Marinette, come on. I think you're making this into a way bigger deal than it needs to be."

Leave it to Tikki to make me feel like I'm the only one who's gone insane.

"Of course I'm making this a bigger deal than this needs to be. And that's the problem!” She dragged her hands across her face. "I don't dislike him or anything, but I'm getting ticked."

"Are you sure you aren't letting your animosity towards spiders get the better of you?" Tikki asked, seemly raising her nonexistent brow.

"No! ...maybe? I don't even know at this point."

The kwami nuzzled against her chosen's cheek, "Remember what I told you before? You have to give him a chance-"

She moved away from Tikki to face her, "You don't get Tikki, I did give him a chance. Three of them! He throws me in a dumpster, he webbed my yoyo to a wall, and don't even get me started on the Sourdough incident! Do you remember the Sourdough incident, Tikki? Because I remember the Sourdough incident. Let's talk about the Sourdough incident."

She was referring to the incident when a man named Corbin Boucher became a competitor for her parents' bakery set up shop two months ago. At least, that's what he considered, apparently. So when she and her parents decided to welcome him to the neighborhood, he was, well...

To put it in Alya's words, 'an asshole who's still stuck in the 1930s.'

He was incredibly rude to his customers and her Dad, her gentle giant of a father politely asked him to stop with the rude comments. When Boucher made racial comments about her and her mom, she was glad other people were around, preventing her dad from ripping the guy's head off.

After that, people tended to steer clear of 'Butcher's shop' because aside from the manager being a racist, the employees were either rude or just didn't care.

Boucher didn't really bother Marinette or her parents until all of last week when he started to harass some of their customers whether exiting or entering the shop. On Sunday, one of those customers got into a heated argument with him. Which led to Boucher getting akumatize.

He basically just turned into one of those villainous bakers you see in cartoons with twirly mustaches, with the power to turn people and objects into sweets or bread. She and Chat Noir seemed to be doing well, and they were about to break the akumatized object until Spider-Man stepped in.

"You can't blame him for not knowing the plan beforehand."

"I know! I guess I'm still a little upset that my yoyo almost got turned into a loaf of beard." She ran her hand through her hair.

"There must be something wrong with me. It must be..." Marinettes' eyes widen as pointed a finger at Tikki, "It must be you."

"What?"

"Think about it; you said you grant me with the power of the Ladybug and he's a spider. So, we're basically natural enemies. I cracked it!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...no?"

"No."

Marinette sighed, "Great. So I'm back at square one." It was nice to talk to Tikki about this, even if it wasn't the most ideal place.

Wait, how long have I been in here?She pulled her phone out of her purse to find out it was 7:36.

Her eyebrows shot up, she's been in here for six minutes! "We'll finish this at home."

With Tikki safely hidden in her purse, she made a mad dash to her classroom. If there were no problems, she might make it to class.

Until she tripped. Clumsy her.

But on the bright side, no one was in the hallway at the moment. So, when she did fall nobody would know.

However, instead of feeling the cold, hard ground, she felt an arm wrapped around her waist, suspending her in midair.

I don't know what's happening, but thank god.

She stood steady and turned to see who caught her. It was a boy, but no one she recognized or had seen before.

Must be new.

He wore a black shirt with the number forty-two tie-dyed on it, a red jacket over it, and a pair of jeans. On his shirt, he wore one of those with 'Hi! My name is...' and on the blank spot of it, was signed a name Miles Morales.

Upon further inspection, the guy looked kind of handsome, not that she'd actually say that to the new guy's face.

Miles pulled something out of his pocket, "Are... you ok?" He said, albeit in broken french.

This was going to be a problem. She didn't know any English other than asking for the bathroom and it seemed that this was the first time he was speaking french.

Wait, there was one thing she also learned.It's a long shot, but...

"I'm fine. Are you new here?" Marinette signed. Back when she was eleven, her mom dragged her to an ASL class for two years. Her reasoning for this was that you never know who you might meet. But it was a gamble because she didn't know if he knew what she was doing.

But to her surprise and relief, he signed back. "Yeah. I'm looking for a Ms. Bustier. Do you know where her class is? Name's Miles Morales."

Man, we're getting a lot of new classmates. Hopefully, this won't end up like Lila.

"My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I can take you to her if you want." Miles nodded. "Alright! Follow me."

On their way there, she showed him a few classrooms and the cafeteria before going to her's.

Marinette turned back to him, "Your shoes are untied by the way."

"It's a style choice."

"An unsafety style choice, but to each their own."

Miles placed a hand on his chest and let out a mock gasp, but laughed. She rolled her eyes, chuckling a little.

Even though the past few days haven't been the best, at least it'll get better. As long as nothing unexpected happens.

Unannounced to our three heroes, two people reacted differently to the name 'Spider-Man'.

One of them recognized the name. However, they thought that they were fine as long they didn't do anything to appear on his radar.

So long as he doesn't catch on to their plans.

The other one was enraged, appalled, even. This boy put shame on the hunters known as spiders. All that power squandered. On a child.

Well, it's time to show Paris what a real spider can do.

Let the hunt begin.

Chapter 7: Issue 6 (Say Hi to the New Guy)

Chapter Text

"Don't be bemused, It's just the News! It's been four days since the new superhero 'Spider-Man' made his debut and already he's a hit with Parisians out there. And-" She leaned into her earpiece then looked back at the camera. "I've just gotten word that there's a Spider-Man sighting. Clara Contard is on the scene."

As she spoke, the scene cut to Clara looking up at Spider-Man, who was eating a sandwich.

"Spider-Man!" She shouted, causing him to freeze. "What are your origins? Where do you come from?"

After a few seconds of what appeared to be stunned silence, he wolfed down the rest of his meal. Then answered, "Planet Earth!"

"Is there any chance you'll be able to do an interview?" She asked, despite receiving a vague answer.

"Call my agent!" And he swung away causing Clara and her news crew to chase after him.

Nino felt a tap on his shoulder, "Nino, what are you watching?" He turned to see Adrien whispering beside him.

"Just recent Spider-Man stuff. The guy doesn't like the news much." Nino whispered back, taking off his headphones.

Adrien let out a small chuckle, "I'm not surprised. Most people don't like that kind of stuff either."

"By ‘most people’ you mean you, right?" He gave Adrien a lopsided grin.

"Hush."

The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted their conversation. It seemed Ms. Bustier caught on to them as she stared both of them down. "Nino, Adrien, would you both like to share your conversation with the rest of the class, or do you two plan on paying attention to today's lesson."

“Sorry, Ms. Bustier.” They said simultaneously.

Content with both their answers, she turned back to the board. Only to be interrupted when Marinette walked through the door, "Um... Ms. Bustier, there's-"

The chalk snapped in between her fingers and the board, her eyes narrowed and her smile went tight. "Hello, Marinette. Care to explain why you're six late for class?"

"Hey, what bug crawled up Ms. Bustier's ass this morning and die?" Alix whispered toward Alya, to which she shrugged.

Marinette whispered something in the teacher's ear, causing her to nodded and instructing Marinette to head back outside. When she came back, she wasn't alone. The guy she came in with wore a black shirt with the number forty-two tie-dyed on it, a red jacket over it, and a pair of jeans.

Ah, finally, someone with a sense of style, Nino thought, steepling his fingers together. Could this guy be one of "my people"?

Ms. Bustier turned to her class, "Everyone, we have a new student joining us today from America, so please make Miles feel welcome!" She turned to Miles and the next few words were spoken in English so he couldn't understand what they were saying.

Miles nodded, turned to the class, took a Flipnote from his pocket. "My is Miles Morales. My Dad's a police officer and my Mom's works as a nurse. The reason I moved was that they wanted me to visit places besides New York. My french isn't that good, so I hope we get along."

As Miles went up to his seat, Nino sent him a small wave. Miles gave him a nod and went to the empty seat beside Marinette. Alya sent a smug grin in Marinette's direction out of the corner of his eye, causing him to stifle a laugh, resulting in Ms. Bustier giving him a pointed glare.

Oops.

Lunch

As the bell rang for lunch, Marinette's classmates immediately swarmed Miles with questions. He managed to give them the slip and she and Alya found him under the stairs trying to catch his breath. "Looks like your new'friend' can't handle being the latest hot topic in our class."

Marinette jabbed Alya with her shoulder, "Don't be mean. He just moved here so his french is a little spotty."

"Then how the hell are you able to understand him since your English is also 'a little spotty'?"

"He knows ASL. That's kinda the only way I've been communicating with him." Alya had a grin on her face that she couldn't decipher, "Is this new guy taking up space in your heart instead of Adrien?"

Marinette felt the blood rush to her head while actively avoiding eye contact, "Of course not! You know my heart belongs to Adrien."

Alya opened her mouth to retort, but Marinette grabbed her arm and pulled her forward, "Look, we can stand here and gossip all day or we can go and talk to Miles."

She let out a huff and shrugged. "Fine. But we got to do something after school."

"What kind of something?"

"It's a surprise."

They made their way to him. Miles, who saw them coming, waved to the two and signed to Marinette. "Your friends are a lively bunch."

"If by 'lively' you mean nuts, then yes. Yes, they are." She pointed a thumb toward Alya, "This is Alya Césaire. My best friend since birth."

The two shook hands and Miles took the Flipnote from his pocket, "Nice to meet you. You're that ladyblogger, right?"

She nodded and to both Miles and Marinette's surprise, started signing back. "Hope Paris isn't too much for you."

Marinette held out a finger toward Miles, grabbed Alya, and pulled her to the side, "Since when do you know ASL?"

"Marinette, honey, I have a life outside of yours." She swung her arm over her neck, "And to answer your question, Nora taught me before she went pro. Now let's not keep noobie waiting."

They turned their attention to Miles, who, bless his heart, looked confused. "Everything okay?"

Alya waved her hand dismissively, "All good. Marinette's a little embarrassed to ask this but do you want to sit with us for lunch?"

This bitch-

He rubbed the back of his head before signing again. "If it's alright with you guys."

"Great! Well, follow us, molasses." With that, Alya trotted away leaving an even more confused Miles and an embarrassed and slightly irritated Marinette behind.

She began to sign frantically, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen! I mean I did want to invite you, but Alya made it into a big deal when it wasn't and-"

A pair of hands stopped her from signing anymore. Miles smiled, then signed, "It's all good. I don't think she meant anything by it anyways." He made his way to the cafeteria before turning to her. "You coming?"

She nodded and the two went to the cafeteria.

It was weird though...

She could've sworn-

He heard him from somewhere before.

As soon as Alya, Marinette, and the new student, Miles Morales entered the cafeteria, Adrien's eyes landed on him immediately.

When Ms. Bustier first introduced him to the class, his immediate thought was making a new friend. However, Adrien had this nagging feeling that he knew him from somewhere. But where?

"So, are you going to talk to the guy at all, or are you going to keep trying to drill holes in the back of his head?" Nino took a fry from Adriens' tray. He swatted the DJ's hand before he could take another.

"I'm just... trying to figure out what to say, I guess."

"Well, first of all, walk up to the guy, see if he needs help with any french lessons, and go from there." They both saw him get up from where he was sitting and make his way to the vending machine. "Now's your chance. He's alone right now, so just muster up the courage and talk to him."

Adrien didn't really understand why he had to be alone to talk to Miles, but whatever. Sucking a breath, he went over to him and went to pat his shoulder. "Hi. my name's-"

Miles's hand snapped backward, dropping his drink as well as grabbing Adrien's wrist. The look on Miles's face sent Adrien through a loop.

He looked on edge and a little scared. Waiting to see what he would do.

Did I do something wrong?

He began to squeeze tightly, causing a bit of discomfort for him because holy hell this guy was strong! "Uh... can I have my wrist back, please?"

That seemed to snap him out of whatever stupor he was in as he let go of his wrist. "Sorry! I'm not used to people sneaking up on me is all." He seemed surprised for some reason. "Wait, you can speak English?"

"Yeah. And no, it's my fault. I should've caught your attention beforehand." After massaging his wrist the two shook hands, "My name's Adrien Agreste. You have a very strong grip by the way."

Miles rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Miles Morales. And thanks, I... eat a lot of protein."

"I can tell." Though somehow, a part of Adrien doubted protein was the only factor.

"You dudes okay?"

They turned to see Nino, who Adrien forgot about for the moment. "Yeah, we're cool. I snuck up on him by accident," Miles seemed lost of who Nino even was, so Adrien introduced him. "Miles, this is my best friend, Nino Lahiffe."

"Sup dude." He and Miles bumped fists.

Marinette and Alya walked over to them, "Well, you boys seem to be getting along." Alya wrapped her arm around Nino and kissed him on the cheek and it was nice to see Marinette and Miles getting along well.

Adrien sometimes saw Marinette using ASL so it was nice to know that she and Miles could talk in conversation. He was worried that it would end up like Lila but he was glad it wasn't the case.

I still want to talk to him some more. Maybe...

"Hey, guys," Alya and Nino turned their attention to Adrien, "Why don't we all sit together for lunch? Make Miles feel more comfortable around us."

Alya gave him a pat on the back, "Not a bad idea Adrien," She went and grabbed Miles by the wrist and pulled him towards their table. "Our own little meet and greet. C'mon Marinette, I got tons of questions to ask this guy and I'm not letting him be until I'm satisfied."

"Alya!" Marinette hissed, clearly embarrassed.

Nino tapped him on the shoulder before they could go. "Hey, dude, seriously, are you okay?" Adrien smiled, "I'm fine. Just tried is all."

"If you say so. Now come on, I'm hungry and I have a few questions of my own."

Adrien rolled his eyes and chuckled a little, "I'm coming."

After School

As first impressions go, Miles thinks he did pretty good.

Although he still had trouble understanding a few of the stuff they were teaching, it was better than his first day at Brooklyn Visions. He even got some friends on the first try and his new classmate were cool. Granted he made it his personal mission to avoid one Chloé Bourgeois if he could help it.

The words to describe her were 'bitchy' and 'a brat who had a silver spoon stuck in her mouth for the majority of her life.'

And yes, the two did argue when Bourgeois openly started to make fun of Marinette. And yes, the two were sent to the principal's office. And yes, the two were forced to apologize to one another.

None of them meant it though.

Obviously.

"So, Miles, what do you like to do for fun?" Adrien said, getting his attention as Marinette, Nino, and Alya exited the school ahead of them. He instantly recognized Alya after saving her as Spider-Man and the countless times she sought after him just for an interview.

It was kind of funny when he thought about it.

"Uh... I like to mix beats on occasion and making graffiti art in my notebook sometimes."

"Nino's a DJ at some parties, so if you guys talk you can lend him some of your beats if he asked. And I bet you, Nathaniel, and Alix would hit it off with the graffiti art."

"Alix's the skater girl, right?" Adrien nodded, "Kay. And Nathaniel is...?"

"Tall guy, keeps to himself, has tomato red hair, and he sits next to Max. The guy with the robot."

Huh... okay. Tomato red hair and sits next to- wait."A robot?"

Adrien shrugged, "It's one of those things where you have to accept as your new normal."

Miles nodded, but he didn't understand where you would get a pet robot from. Or where you would get the parts. Not to mention the cost of paying it whole or in pieces.

You know what, I've seen weirder stuff on my earth so whatever.He thought, looking back at the school.Speaking of which...

"Hey, Adrien? I gotta ask one of the teachers something, so you guys can go on ahead without me." Miles said, causing the blond to raise his brow.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, just need to check something."

Adrien looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it. "Alright. See you tomorrow then Miles."

With that, the two boys went their separate ways.

"Wait! Hold on." Adrien called out. Did he need something else? "I-uh... have to get permission from my father, but if he gives the okay, we can go over to my house so I can help you with your French?"

That surprised Miles actually. He wasn't expecting Adrien to offer that on his first day and it didn't seem like he had any ill intentions.

It was a surprise, but a welcome one for sure.

"Alright. If it's okay with your parents, then sure."

Adrien beamed, "Sweet! I mean, uh... cool. See you tomorrow. For real this time."

How the hell is he shining... "Yeah. See ya." As the two exchanged phone numbers, Miles went back inside and Adrien went home.

Miles's examination of his new class was normal. Well, normal as it was going to get. Actually, no, in a city full of magic, 'normal' skipped town a long time ago.

But other than that, it was fine. Well, three things were bothering him. One was that the cellular decay still hasn't happened yet.

Which was good and worrying at the same time. Lucky, he was forty-five percent sure someone in the school could help.

However, the two enigmas that confuse and infuriate him were the very same people he made friends with.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste.

Ever since he stepped into the school, his spider-sense kept going off. And he was sure it was because of them.

When he was near Marinette, it was like a weird tingle. It didn't really much sense, but being her near made his skin crawl. But Adrien...?

Well, to put it simply, Adrien Agreste made his spider-sense ring like a church bell. Hell, after the dude touched him, Miles felt like he was next to a bomb about to go off. But after meeting and talking to them, they seemed like your everyday high schoolers.

But yeah, other than those three things, it was a great first day.

He opened the door to see Ms. Mendeleiev grading papers. He knocked, making her aware of his presence. "Um... Ms. Mendeleiev? Do you have a minute?"

"Oh! Yes. Mr. Morales is there something wrong?" She asked.

"No, no. No. I just have a question about a subject that I'm researching."

Her pen stopped taping against the deck, her interest piqued. Why did it feel like he was about to make a mistake? "And what is the subject matter you're researching?"

Miles swallowed the lump in his throat.Oh boy, Here goes nothing. "It's about interdimensional travel ma'am."

The room fell silent as now she gave him her undivided attention, grabbing by the shoulders, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she grinned like a hyena after a fresh kill. Oh Dios, what have I done?"Yes! Yes of course!"

Ms. Mendeleiev gestured to one of the chairs in the room sitting back down on her's. "So," He pulled one up to her desk and sat down. "What's your question?"

"Uh... okay. So, is it possible for someone to travel to other dimensions without any drawbacks? If yes; what would be the conditions for that?"

Ms. Mendeleiev tapped her pen against her chin 'till she went up to the board and began to draw something. "Okay, so, picture these infinite Earths are like car radios. And we humans are the radio stations. Each radio is vibrating at a different frequency, they're there, we just can't see them."

"I... see. But that doesn't really answer my ques-"

Ms. Mendeleiev cut him off. "I was getting to that if you'd just wait." Rude. But he kept that to himself, not looking a gift horse in the mouth and all that.

After she finished drawing whatever was on the board, which turned out circles. Two of them were large circles on opposite sides of each other; 'Earth one' and 'Earth two'. Five smaller circles next to the larger ones labeled with different letters.

"Your question was is it possible for people to travel to other dimensions without any drawbacks, correct?" Miles nodded, "Well, yes and no. You see, it might be possible to cross over to other dimensions but I wouldn't advise."

"Why not?" Miles asked, already knowing the answer.

"Because it would be likey that you would experience some form of cellular decay due to your body not being used to the dimensional change."

He nodded, it was old news but it was a nice change of pace hearing why it happened. Still... "But why would that happen? Is there a reason?"

"I have two theories. Although I have no evidence to back it up. Yet." She went back to the board and drew two stick figures. "Here's the first: remember when I said that humans are like radio stations and infinite Earths are like car radios? Well, just like those things, two of me, Dimitri Mendeleev, can't exist on the same Earth because I was born here. As a result; the Ms. Mendeleev from this alternate reality would experience the cellular decay. Not me."

That... made sense.

That made a lot of sense actually!

Miles always thought that depending on how long you've been on that selected Earth, cellular decay would come WAY later. Like what happened with Gwen when she said she was on his Earth for a full week without feeling the effects. "And I'm guessing the second theory is finding a safe and stable way to cross over?"

"Yes! But what's infuriating is that, even though we live in a city full of magic, we don't have access to the means to travel to these other Earths." She tapped her foot impatiently, her face scrunched up in annoyance, "But mark my words, Mr. Morales, I'll be the first on any Earth to crack interdimensional travel yet."

Peni Parker would like to have a few words with you.

"Well, thanks for giving me the answers I was looking for," Miles picked up his bag and made his exit. "Seriously. Thank you."

"Not a problem. Have a nice day."

With that, Miles headed home, a huge weight lifted off his shoulders because he didn't have to worry about dying any time soon. Yay!

Well, he still didn't have a way back home. So, small victories.

Still, gotta figure out if there's a Miles Morales on this Earth. Time for a google search when I get back to Fus'.

An explosion went off in the distance, startling people and causing them to run in the opposite direction. Then out of nowhere, some guy in a purple trench coat, a pair of goggles, and some sort of gauntlets in his hands fell out of the sky.

And he just made eye contact with Miles. Great. "Why are you looking at me like that? Huh?!" Purple coat's face contorted in ferocity. "YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME TOO YOU f*ckIN' BRAT?!?!

Now, Miles knew what this guy was going to do next. Spider-sense and all that. It was typical Supervillain behavior. Supervillain sees a civilian who's 'in his way' and takes a shot at said civilian.

However, Miles wasn't like any regular citizen. He was Spider-Man. He could jump out of the way, find a discrete location, change into his costume, and smack Purple Coat around some.

HOWEVER, he wasn't Spider-Man at the moment. He was Miles Morales. And Miles Morales couldn't just jump out the way like he'd normally would or he'd give his identity away.

So... yeah. BIG problem.

Time slowed down as purple coat shot some sort of yellow beam at Miles, who felt weightless as he was lifted and carried away by-

"Ladybug?"

She looked down at him and smiled, reassuring him, "That's me. I'll get you to safety Mi- er, citizen."

Getting swung around when you're not the one doing the swinging felt weird somehow. Maybe he was just used to doing the swinging.

Who knows.

The feeling wasn't so bad, just something he wasn't used to.

She dropped him off near an alley and handed him something. It was his backpack. "Are you ok?" She asked.

Miles grabbed his bag, "I'm good. Thanks. For saving me, I mean."

Ladybug shrugged, "No problem. If you're not injured, you should probably head home." And as quickly as she came, she was gone the next minute.

Well, I guess I owe Puntos one. Might as well lend a hand. Miles looked to see if anyone was nearby before changing into his costume and help out.

He made it just in time to see Chat Noir and Ladybug using their baton and yoyo to block a few shots from Purple Coat. Miles jumped, shooting his webs out to a bus, and pulled it in between them and Purple Coat. Chat Noir used his staff to keep the bus in place. "Puntos. Chat Noir. I see you guys made a new friend without me."

Chat Noir greeted him with a smirk while Ladybug rolled her eyes at the nickname. "Oh, hey Webhead. Wouldn't call really call Shocker here a friend, unless we're doing it wrong."

"Wait, wait, wait. 'Shocker'? That can't be his real name."

"Blame HawkMoth for it. And we were doing just fine on our own, thank you very much. LUCKY CHARM!" She threw her yoyo up in the air and it start to spin faster and faster. What came out of it was...

A sticky note? Seriously?

Okay, so, there were two things about Ladybug's powers that didn't make any damn sense to Miles. One was her lucky charm and the other was her miraculous cure. Miles had seen the videos where she would pull out some item that had nothing to do with the situation and somehow helped her and Chat Noir win.

And, yes, Miles will admit some of the stuff that came out made semi-sense.

But a sticky note???

He couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it because how the hell was a sticky note supposed to help them? "What are you going to do with that, Puntos? Gonna paint it white and wave it at him?"

She gave him a stink eye, "I don't see you coming up with a plan, Spider-Brat!"

"Guys now is really not the time-"

"You know what, I do have a plan." He jumped on the side of the bus and turned to Ladybug, "But if you come up with a plan before mine works, I'll think about that partnership thing."

Miles jumped from the side of a wall and landed on a lamp post. Shocker didn't notice him yet. Time to change that. "Yo, Vibrator! Got a sec?"

He turned to Miles, firing a beam at him. Miles jump off of the post to avoid it and landed on a car. "The name's SHOCKER!! Not-"

"No, no. Your name is Vibrator, not changing that. Not now, not in the next twenty to thirty-five seconds." Miles landed into a crouch after dodging another beam.

Shocker let loose a yell of frustration, "Quit moving so much! Why can't you take this seriously?!"

"Because that's what you want! And until HawkMoth does something about your wardrobe, I'm not going to give it to you!"

There, that did it. Operation: Enraged Super-Villian worked wonders.

But he had time this next part just right or else he would get a face full of pain.

At that moment, as Shocker's gauntlets were powering up, Miles shot two web balls at them, causing them to send some kind of feedback at him. Shocker cried out in pain and surprise before slumping on the ground, unconscious. He wrapped Shocker in webbing in case he wakes up.

"Ohhh, 'Shocker'. Because that defect was shocking. I just got it." Chat chuckled, leaning against the bus, and seeing Ladybug flabbergasted was so satisfying.

"I-I don't- but- how-"

"Wam, bam, thank you, ma'am. We're done here. Good job, everyone! Pats on the back all around." Miles jumped on top of the bus and prepared to leave before turning back to Ladybug, "Chat Noir, Puntos, always a pleasure." He swung away towards Fus', seeing Ladybug's miraculous cure in the distance.

Chapter 8: Issue 7 (Night Patrol)

Chapter Text

That evening

Ever since Alya could remember, she always wanted to be a Journalist. Sure, being a superhero was tied with that goal, but there was something about telling the untold stories about the heroes that inspired her. She wasn't interested in theories with half-baked evidence or lies that didn't make any sense. But she was brave enough to admit that she used to take everything to face value.

But now? Now, what she wanted was cold hard facts. It's why she was out and about, and WAY past her curfew without her parents' knowledge. To ask for an interview with Spider-Man.

"Alya, babe, it's almost eleven-thirty. We gotta get home."

Now if only Nino would be as determined as she was. "I thought you said you wanted to meet Spider-Man?"

"I do. But come on, is getting grounded worth it?"

The two sat on a park bench eating some of André's ice cream. They searched high and low into the night to look for the web-slinger but came up with nada. She'd done the twice now; once on Sunday, she didn't get that interview then but she got his 'schedule' locked down.

Nino let out a sigh, throwing away his finished ice cream into a nearby trash can, "So, why is there only us out here? I know Adrien can't come 'cause of his dad, but why isn't Marinette here?"

"Uh... she said she had homework that she couldn't get away from." That was a lie. Because Alya didn't even know why she didn't want to go with them. Maybe she had some sort of grudge against the guy or something? Who knows. When Alya went over to Marinette's house and asked her about tagging along... well...

A few hours earlier

"Alya, as your best friend, I'm going to have to respectively and politely decline."

"Come on, Bakernette, you gotta come with!"

"I don't 'gotta' go anywhere, Alys. If this is that surprise you were talking about, I hate it. Besides, it's a school night."

"That never stopped you from being late half the time. What if I told you that Adrien was coming too?"

"Then I'd know you'd be full of sh*t because his dad wouldn't let him go anywhere, let alone running around Paris at night looking for Spooder-Man."

"Okay. First off; fair. Second of all, what's your problem with Spider-Man? He's only been in Paris for four days and you're acting like he committed several war crimes."

"It's- ...I just don't like him. That's all."

"Come on, it has more than that. What? Did... did he do something to you?"

"What? No! Nothing like that. Just like how some people don't like Ladybug or Chat Noir, I'm not fond of Spider-Man."

"Yeah, if you're HawkMoth or Lila! Are you, like working for one of them?"

"Okay, see you later, crazy lady. Look, if you're worried about going alone why don't you bring Nino?"

And so...

Seriously, what's her deal lately? Alya thought, letting out a groan of frustration. On top of the unknown reason Marinette isn't fond of Parisses friendly neighborhood web-slinger, she and Nino weren't any closer to finding him. She tried using the internet for any sightings of him, but by the time they get there, he's gone.

"Alya, babe," Nino stifled a yawn. "We're not getting any closer to finding the guy. Let's turn in for the night and try again tomorrow, okay?"

She didn't want to knowledge it, but she was feeling pretty worn out herself. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. Then again, running around Paris like a bunch of headless chickens looking for a guy who actively avoids the press like the plague wasn't exactly sound to begin with.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Though she was disappointed that risking staying up past curfew on a school night and coming up with nothing in the end.

Nino, bless his heart, let out a sigh before saying, "Wanna do one search around the block? That sound fair?"

"You sure? It is getting pretty late. And I don't want you to get in trouble because of me."

"Positive." He gave her a little smirk, "And don't worry about my folks, I'll think of something."

Alya was hesitant before answering. "Okay. One more search."

Hand in hand, the two did one more sweep around the block. But the result remained the same and they decided to cut their losses and head home. Besides, what are the odds that he would show up out of the blue-

"Holy- Alya, look!"

She looked to where Nino was pointing and saw Spider-Man just swing around, probably going to fight some criminals.

Jackpot.Alya grinned and with Nino's hand in hers, they went after him. It was difficult due to the fact they had to run and didn't bring their bikes, but the leftover webbing he swung from made it easier to keep up with him.

Wasn't worth the exercise though.

They managed to find him heading towards an alleyway. This was going to get tricky. Alya didn't know if he was changing back into his civilian clothes or not, she was taking a gamble here.

Nino pulled her out of her thoughts, "Even if we manage to get his attention, how do you plan on having a conversation with him? Neither of us can speak or understand English and I don't think he can speak French."

"Don't worry. I got that covered." They leaned against the wall and into the alleyway. There were just a couple of trash cans and a dumpster, some discarded food, and gum wrappers on the ground. Nino gave her a quizzical look as if to ask if this was the right place. The two traversed deeper to find not a signal person. Spider or otherwise.

Alya let out a scream of frustration. "Goddammit! How hard is it to just interview one guy?!"

"Hey, come on. Don't be like that." Nino wrapped her in a side hug. "At least you saw him this time. That's progress."

"If this is your way of trying to make me feel better... you're fired." Pinching the bridge of her nose, Alya let out a sigh, "Look, lets' just... head home already. This wasn't worth it anyway."

"Well, hey, if he doesn't want to get interviewed it's his loss," Nino said and while it probably was supposed to make her feel better, Alya still felt down in the dumps. And as they made their way out of the alley, Nino proceeded to say, "Of course, if you, the girl who made the best fan website for Paris's superheroes, the best girlfriend ever, and the foxiest person I've ever met wants to interview me, your shell-tastic boyfriend than I'll gladly interview with you."

She smiled. "Well, play your cards right and I'll give you the inside scoop just for you."

Nino wrapped his arms around her, engulfing Alya in a hug. "Yahzee! Come on, let head-"

A voice and a pair of footsteps can be heard at the entrance of the alleyway, interrupting him. "Well, would ya look at that? Two spring chickens out for a stroll in the middle of the night."

Nino and Alya turned to see some guy walking towards them. He wore a pair of blue jeans that had tears in them with a chain hanging off the belt strap, a leather jacket with spikes on the shoulders, and a pair of fingerless gloves.

Okay... this is creeping me out a little.Alya thought grimly. She didn't like the way he was looking at her either.

Sensing this, Nino stepped in front of her to block her from the guy's view. "Hey, uh, we don't want any trouble, pal. We were leaving."

He let out a laugh, "You should have thought of that before walking down a dark alleyway by yourselves. But that's just me." Without taking his eyes off them, he turned his head partially to the side. "What do you boys think?"

As soon as he said that, two more sketchy-looking guys entered the alley and panic started to set in. One of them had a leather whip on their waist and was wearing a fedora while the other was wearing a business suit. They both had smirks on their faces, although the one with the fedora had a gold bottom tooth.

This might have been a bad idea.

"Nino. We need to leave..." She muttered in his ear.

He nodded, "Yeah, I know. I'll think of something." Nino turned back to the guys blocking the entrance. "Look! W-what do you guys even want?"

"Ah, where are my manners? The name's Lincoln. Lonnie Lincoln." He pulled out a switchblade, "And I want your wallets."

Now, in any other scenario, this would be where the hero swoops in and saves them from being mugged. What she wouldn't give for that to happen right about now.

But there was one more option:

Running.

With that, she grabbed Nino's arm and ran in the opposite direction before colliding with something, prompting her to stumble backward.

What she ran into was another one of Lonnie's goons. Except this guy was massive. Like, he could probably lift her or Nino by the head if he wanted to. Whatever there was in the alley was reflecting off his bald head. She almost mistook him for Adrian's bodyguard if not for the large scar under his left eye. Alya was then grabbed from behind, someone's arms wrapping around her to prevent her from escaping.

She struggled against her assailant, "Let me go!"

"Easy! Easy..." She felt something cold pressed against her head, tensing immediately.

A gun. sh*t.

"Alya!" Before Nino could do anything, he was hoisted up from the back of his collar by the larger goon. "Dammit, get off! Don't dare hurt her!"

Lonnie let out a laugh, the kind people use to explain something more than once. "Well, that depends on you two, doesn't it? Now just cooperate, and you get to go home. Wallets and any other precious valuables will be excluded of course. Sanchez, make sure Cappy doesn't go anywhere. And Brito, keep your gun on her.”

Alya glared at fingerless glove-wearing punk but noticed something.

Weren't there supposed to be four of them?

She did a quick headcount; the one in the business suit, Brito, who was holding her at gunpoint, the larger guy, whose name was Sanchez, had Nino and Lonnie was watching to see what they would do next.

So where the hell did the other one go?

Without warning, something shot to Lonnie's shoulder pulling him upwards. Following where he was pulled to, she saw him being stuck to the wall. It was difficult to see due to the lack of street lights, but upon further inspection, the thing that was making him and fedora stick was a giant glop of webbing. But whatever was doing it had to be-

“Invisible...” Alya said alone.

Webbing and the power to go invisible. One person came to mind and he just so happen to decloak and land on a dumpster.

Heh. These guys screwed.Alya, despite being in a hostage situation, relaxed a little. Of course, now the gunmen looked rattled more than anything, tightening his grip on Alya, and trained his gun on Spider-Man

Sanchez dropped Nino and took a swing at Spider-Man, who flipped over him and clung to his back. It was weird, a little creepy, and sort of awesome seeing Spider-Man crawl all over him only to tap his foot. He began wrapping up in Sanchez webbing, kicking off of him, causing him to stick to the wall. Sanchez spazzed out before falling unconscious.

Spider-Man turned his attention to Brito and before he could say anything, Alya stomped her foot down on Brito's. Hard. Causing him to prematurely fire his gun and missed its target. She was then pushed to the ground, turned back around just in time to stare down the barrel of Brito's gun as it gets ripped out of his hand by a web string along with one on his face.Brito was pulled towards Spider-Man and got punched in the jaw, knocking him unconscious.

There was a few moments of stillness as Nino helped her up and Spider-Man webbed up the last of Lonnies’ cronies.

”Holy sh*t…” Nino said in amazement and she was inclined to agree with her. Holy sh*t indeed.

Spider-Man turned to them and Alya took in how short he was. Granted, all three from them seemed to be the same height, but she thought he'd be taller.

He cleared his throat, "Are... you guys o...kay?"

Okay, so, it wasn't the worst French she'd heard. It wasn't great either, but she could work with it. Sounds like he's around our age. Alya thought, pulling out her phone, opening the translator app Max and Markov recommended, and spoke into it. "We're fine. Thanks for saving us."

It was difficult to gauge Spider-Mans expression since he was wearing a full face mask, but he gave them a thumbs up. She gestured her phone towards him, as a sign to speak if he wants.

He got closer and spoke, "No problem. What are you guys even doing out here so late? Isn't it a school night?"

Alya kept a neutral expression but felt annoyed that she was being asked that by someone who sounded like they also have school.

Fortunately, Nino asked the question instead. "Yeah. But my girlfriend was wondering if she could get an interview with you. For the ladyblog."

Spider-Man let out a sigh. "Like I told Chamack and Contar, I don't do interviews." He shrugged, ready to leave.

"Wait!" She reached and grabbed his arm before he could swing away, surprising him and, admittedly herself.

"Sorry," Alya released his hand, but Spider-Man didn't make a move to leave or swing away. At least he was giving her a chance.

Hooray for small miracles I guess.It took her a few moments to collect herself, "I don't blame you. For not taking interviews, I mean. But people don't know who you are, where you came from, or why you're even in Paris in the first place. And people thrive on controversy. I'm not trying to guilt-trip you or anything! ...I'm just presenting you with a choice of interviewing with me. That's all."

Alya was caught off guard by his next question though, "Why do you care so much? Seriously, what's your endgame here?"

On any other day, she would've had an immediate response with wanting more views for the Ladyblog. But after Heroes Day and that... particular incident, she had to rethink the whole being a respectful journalist thing when she never even check her sources.

So, she just spoke from the heart and said, "I don't have one. I just want to get the truth out. No matter how ugly it is."

Alya could feel Nino smiling behind her and tried not to turn around and look. Spider-Man seemed to be considering it before shooting a web line, turning back to her saying, "I'll think about it. Until then, don't tell anyone that we talked," and swung away.

Nino let out a small chuckle after some brief silence, "Honestly, that could've gone a lot worse than what I was picturing."

She scoffed playfully, "What? You didn't think I could do it?"

"No. I just thought he was going to flat out say no and leave. But... Um..." He looked back at Lonnie and his goons, "What now?"

The sight of red and blue flashing on the alleyway walls as well as the sound of sirens answered his question for him. After the police questioned them, they were driven down to the police station. Where they had to wait for their parents to come and take them home.

They were both grounded and Nora had to take her to and from school.

All in all, totally worth the grounding.

Afterward

Miles watched from his perch as Alya and Nino's parents took them home and the police escorted the four goons to jail. And now he was swinging around Paris contemplating his choices as of late. Like why the hell did he say he'll think about having an interview with Alya.

I'm a moron... Miles groaned hands because this wasn't how tonight was supposed to go. It was just supposed to be a simple patrol while avoiding any reporters that keep bugging him, asking him countless times to be on a talk show.

It was something Peter B. and Peter Noir encouraged him to do; avoid anything press-related. Miles understood though, he was a superhero, not a super-star.

So what changed?

Sure, Alya said some sweet words about truth and all that but was that all it took to win him over? Maybe it had something to do with the fact he knows her and Nino outside of being Spider-Man...

Nah.

Wait, hold on, Miles landed on top of a construction crane and started to pace back and forth on it. I just said I'll think about it, it wasn't a definite yes or no. I could just go to her house and decline her offer. But I don't even know where she lives! And even if I did, she's probably asleep. Maybe I can flag her down tomorrow afternoon or something.

He stopped his pacing, was dragged out of his thoughts when he saw Ladybug's miracle cure sweep across a certain part of the city and felt his phone buzz a few minutes after. Miles didn't recognize the number until he the text itself.

+33-XXX-XXXX-XX: Hey Miles, this is Adrien from school.

+33-XXX-XXXX-XX:You're most likely asleep right now, but I talked to my father and he said he's free to talk with you on Thursday after school if you're free at that time.

Miles sighed in relief, thankful that he can put his mind on something else for the time being. "Might as well answer this."

Miles:Thanks for telling me!

Miles: I'd have to check my schedule but I should be free.

+33-XXX-XXXX-XX's name has been changed to Adrien

Adrien:Oh okay.

Adrien:Wait, I was just sending my message in advance. What are you doing up so late anyway?

Miles:Uh, late-night deliveries?

Miles:What are YOU doing up so late?

Adrien:Uh, late-night photo shoots?

Miles:Oh yeah, I saw you on one of those campaign ads.

Miles:How's that goin'? Do you get paid while doing it or is it an intern thing?

Adrien:No, I don't get paid. I mean I get an allowance from my father, but that's it.

Adrien: And it's something my father wants me to do for the Agreste brand.

Miles:But you don't like doing it?

Adrien:Not as much as people think I do.

Miles:If that's the case, why not tell your dad you don't like doing it anymore.

Adrien:My father has high expectations of me and I don't want to upset him.

That... that raised some red flags. Miles understood not wanting to disappoint or, in this case, upset your parents but it sounded like Adrien's dad was treating him like a trophy to present to Paris then a son. Miles had a feeling that Adrien hasn't been in school for too long. Maybe his mom convened his dad to let him be in a public school then being homeschooled.

He didn't know. And quite frankly, it wasn't his place to ask.

Miles:That's rough, dude.

Miles:Well, thanks for asking your dad about our study thing. I'ma finish up my deliveries then hit the hay.

Miles:See you at school.

Adrien:Yeah. See ya.

Adrien:Actually, one last thing.

Miles:?

Miles'sname has been changed toMiles'Tails'Prower

Now Miles was confused, "Is this a reference to something? Whatever." He plopped down on the crane and opened up the site to the LadyBlog, scrolling through comments. In the end, it wasn't as important as some other things.

Like figuring out a way to get to his earth. Miles asked Fu if there was a Miraculous that can travel through dimensions, but the old man didn't even know where one resided. But that didn't mean one didn't exist somewhere in the world.

So while Fu did some investigating, Miles had no choice but to keep attending school. He let out a sigh, "I guess I'll sleep on this-"

A shrill scream cut through the night, startling him. From where he was perched, it sounded like it was coming from a few warehouses over.

No rest for the wicked, I guess.He thought, swinging over to where the scream originated from.

🐞🐈‍⬛🕷️

Landing on the warehouse the scream came from, Miles peered inside through a broken glass ceiling. The light from the moon revealed nothing but rusted equipment, discarded crates, and cobwebs.

Miles hung from a web line to get a better look inside. "Hello? Anyone in here? Besides the rats..." He called out, but only scurrying answered him. Everything seemed normal.

Well... almost everything.

There in the top right-hand corner of the building was some sort of cocoon. His spider-sense wasn't going off, so it wasn't dangerous.

So why did he feel uneasy?

Miles swung closer to it while trying not to disturb whatever was inside. He did an experimental tap and the texture was familiar. Hell, he used the stuff to swing from. The knot in his stomach worsened as he pressed his ear against it and could hear pained labored breathing.

There was a person in there!

As Miles ripped open the cocoon, some lady in her mid-twenties in school clothes fell on top of him. She looked familiar, but it wasn't something he focused on because the lady was bleeding profusely from both her wrist.

Santo... His body went on auto-pilot, ripping the sleeves of her jacket and applying pressure to both wrists to stop the bleeding. "What the hell did this?"

She turned her head to face Miles and his stomach dropped.

"M-Ms. Bustier?"

His new teacher seemed so out of it that she didn't respond to the name, but even with her face scrunched up in pain, there was no mistaking her facial features.

"Sp-spider-m-man...?" Bustier numbly asked. She was paler by the second.

Miles picked her up bridal style, "Don't worry ma'am. I'ma get you to a hospital. Just stay with-"

His Spider-sense cut him off, causing him to leap backward with Bustier in his arms. A metal but almost lifelike spider arm was embedded into the ground where he was standing. The arm was attached to a woman with salmon hair, who also had three more of those spider arms.

She pulled the arm out of the ground, standing at full height, and turned to face him. Looking at the lady's face, there was nothing distinctive about her except for her hair, the choker she was wearing that had a spider emblem, and her domino mask had four additional eyes on it.

They looked lifeless, but it felt like they were all staring at him.

She spoke in a way that made him feel like he was getting talked down to by someone who knew what they were doing and enjoyed it, but in a smooth almost soothing way, "Hello, fake."

Chapter 9: Issue 8 (Oh, What a Bloodied Web We Weave) Part 1

Chapter Text

Fernand-Widal Hospital

The sound of keyboards, the ringing of telephones, and the bustling of nurses, patients, and other doctors coming and going out of the hospital could be heard throughout parts of the building. Couple with the stockpile of paperwork, it was calming, in a way.

Well, if you were Doctor Adrian Toomes it was calming, anyone else would be a bit overwhelmed. He could hear the air conditioning chattering off and on again on occasion.

Adrian Toomes was a fit man, standing at a height of 6' 11", and he, as some of the nurses would attest; was one of the hottest doctors in Paris.

Not that he needed the title. While it was flattering, he was already happily married.

When he first got his doctorate, people didn't respect him as soon as he got there. But he learned over the years that respect isn't taken, it was earned. So after completing his first surgery, people started to respect him more.

Adrian took a sip of his coffee, which had gone cold after long hours of working. The time on his computer displayed that it was 12:53 A.M. He let out a sigh, stretching as he did so. I Wonder what's Doris is doing right now? As he was thinking this, his phone rang. The caller I.D displayed his wife's number, answering it. "Dr. Toomes speaking, how's the world's most amazing, beautiful, and stunning wife in Paris?"

There was a short chuckle on the other end,"If that's your way of saying 'sorry for not coming to eat dinner with you and my daughter?' Then apology not accepted."

Doris and Adrian Toomes met each other in their last year of high school. He needed help with biology and she offered to tutor him. Fast forward a few years later, the two were happily married with a five-year-old daughter.

He stifled a yawn, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I'm almost done here. Did you put Liz to bed?"

"Well, I did. But she had a nightmare and she's sleeping in our room right next to me." Adrian could hear mumbling on the other end besides Doris's voice.

He smiled, faintly hearing his daughter yawn. "I'm heading out now. Keep the bed warm for me?"

"Get here faster and I just might not have to. I love you."

"Love you too." He hung up, staring at his home screen for a bit before packing his things and heading for the exit. He zigged-zagged through other doctors and nurses till he made it to the front desk to clock out.

"Heading out doctor?" The receptionist asked.

"Yup. No more midnight oil to burn. So, I'm gonna eat some dinner then crash on the couch."

"I hear that. Well, good night doc-" She cut herself off as she looked past him. "Oh my god..."

Adrian turned around and saw was Spider-Man, small cuts on his arms, shoulder, and a semi-large open wound across his chest. But the thing he was most considered about was the unconscious woman in his arms getting paler by the second.

"Help-Help her..." Spider-Man muttered, sounding out of breath. "Please."

That seemed to snap Adrian out of his stupor, calling for a med team as they took the woman from Spider-Man and placed her on a gurney.

She looked familiar. He retracted her wallet out of her back pocket, her ID said 'Caline Bustier.' It suddenly clicked, she was that Akuma Zombizou a few months back.

Adrian turned back to Spider-Man to ask what the hell happened to her only to be interrupted by the front automated doors being blown open by something too fast for him to see.

And it was gunning right for him.

But before anything could happen, Spider-Man used his webbing and threw the thing outside.

Call Adrian crazy, but he could have sworn the speeding object was a person.

There was a beat of silence before Spider-Man turned to him and asked, "Can you help her?"

Even though it was under strange circ*mstances, Adrian kept his composer and nodded. “We’ll do what we can.”

With that and a short ‘sorry about your door’, he swung out of the shattered doorway.

Back Outside

Miles climbed on top of a building near the hospital looking around for Ms. crazy spider lady, but it seemed she disappeared into thin air. He felt pissed, after almost killing his new teacher and attacking him when he to get Ms. Bustier to the hospital, she just leaves.

Why attack Ms. Bustier like that? Was that some sort of new Akuma Hawkmoth sent after me? And why the hell did she fake?Miles thought, his adrenaline wearing down and feeling the pain from his wounds.

But he couldn't just turn in yet. For all he knew, spider lady could try to finish the job. Maybe he could... draw her out.

He took a deep breath and screamed, "COME ON OUT YOU PSICÓPATA! I'M RIGHT HERE, THE SO-CALLED 'FAKE' WHO OFFENDED YOU SO MUCH!"

People started to take notice of him, but he continued. "ALL THAT GRANDSTANDING AND YOU JUST RUN AWAY?! THIS IS MY FIRST TIME MEETING YOU, BUT I DIDN'T TAKE YOU FOR A-"

It finally worked when his Spider-sense went off, flipping out of the way of the Akumas' (Or some kind of an assassins') attack.

"You talk too much." She said, sounding annoyed. "And if you don't know what you did to invoke my wrath, then all the more reason for you to die."

Miles dodged another spider talon and gave her a kick in the back of the head. She staggered but it didn't stop her onslaughts, Miles narrowly dodging her talons. "Listen crazy, I don't even know you. So how could I 'invoke' your wrath if I didn't know you existed."

She closed the distance, landing a solid punch to his chest, used one of her spider talons to sweep under his legs, and tossed him off the side of the building. Miles landed on a car, causing people to flee. "Okay... ow." Miles groaned.

Spider ladys' knee landed on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and her hands around his throat. Miles tried to pry her off him but her spider talons kept his arms in place.

"Then allow me to enlighten you. You may call me Wolf Spider. Consider it the last name you'll hear, boy." Wolf Spider began tightening her grip on his throat.

"Okay... I don't know... if anyone... told you this... but," Miles crocked out, "You really... need to... work... on your pickup lines." He wrenched his left hand out from under the talon, put venom in his front and index finger, and tapped the side of her stomach.

As she was started convulsing, Miles put webbing in her eyes, kicking her up in the air. He shot two web lines to her and slammed her back to earth, webbing up her arms and legs. "Seriously, I know a guy in a catsuit who can give you some tips. If you want them, that is."

He started noticing people taking pictures or recording videos. "Oh, neat. Could, uh... could someone call the police?"

Wait,Miles looked back over to her and found that her extra spider arms were gone. Where the hell did they go?

"Spider's Bite."

That was what he heard before his Spider-sense made him jump on the side of a building to avoid Wolf Spiders' talons which stabbed into the car he was standing on. Those same talons started to cut away at the webbing, allowing her to rip the webbing off her eyes.

She somehow looked both annoyed and pleased with herself. “I'm going to enjoy watching you bleed out, fake.”

As Miles was avoiding Wolf Spiders' attacks again, he noticed two things.

One: unlike Miles, Wolf Spider looked like she needed the extra arms to climb up. Instead of using her fingertips and feet and two: the phrase ‘Spiders bite’ seemed to be the catalyst for her talons.

“So, stab in the dark,” He backflipped away from Wolf Spider and perched on a chimney. "You wouldn't be wearing a Miraculous, would you."

She flinched but recovered quickly, destroying the chimney, catching his leg, and throwing him across the building. "How would you know about the gift my goddess, Arachne, gave me?"

Goddess?

Miles landed gracefully, skidding a few feet and webbing her eyes.The hell's she on about?"Is that what you name tu pequeño ayudante? Because if so, it's a bit on the nose.”

Wolf Spider stopped for a moment before giving out a hardy laugh, tearing the webbing off. “I see now. I see why my goddess sent me here. You stole this power from Arachne, didn't you? That's why it's so utterly weak. You took it and gave nothing back. I, however, give my goddess my absolute obedience. And I am stronger than ever before."

His Spider-sense blared and Wolf Spider shot out a light green and grey mixture of webbing out of one of her talons. Miles twisted his body to avoid it.

But she didn't go without a target.

Her webbing hit a bus full of passengers in the wheel, eating and corroding through it, causing the bus to steer out of control and was heading right for some lady and her stroller.

Acid webbing?! Seriously?!! Miles jumped off the roof and dodged another attack, shot some web balls at Wolf Spider in the process. The bus wasn't going to stop in time if he tried to pull it back with webs. So, doing some he hadn't tried before, he swung in front of the bus, putting his feet forward, and pushed against it. Miles could feel his feet digging into the concrete, pushing against it. The bus slowed to a stop, the tires hissing slightly and preventing it from advancing any further.

He felt tired and a little in shock. Pete told him that spider people were strong, but Miles didn't think he was strong enough to stop a bus. Sure, he stopped cars, trucks, and buses with his webbing before but never with his bare hands.

"Ma'am, are you and your baby okay?" He asked out of breath.

She nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. "We're fine. Thank you."

"Yeah..." Miles turned to the bus and knocked on the window, "How about you guys? Everyone okay?"

A chorus of 'thank you's and 'we're fine' can be heard. "Alright. Cool."

"Piesir!"

Miles saw that lady's baby was clapping. He did a mock bow which seemed to please the infant. "Cute baby."

His Spider-sense kicked in. "Excuse me," he leaped on top of the bus hands first and pushed off it, his feet colliding with Wolf Spiders' bottom chin, her head snapping back in response. Got to get Wolf Spider somewhere where she can’t hurt anyone.Miles thought, pushing off of her and shooting web lines to her. He then threw her, with all of his strength to a remote rooftop.

Miles want invisible as Wolf Spider got up off her back and punched her onto a ventilation system. He began webbing her up again, this time making sure her spider arms were nailed down too.

She spat out a tooth. “You hide and sneak away like a coward now?! Show yourself, you little bastard!”

Miles deactivated camo, hanging upside down on a cell tower that was near her, “Don’t get all mad because I sat ya down like a saco de papas. Now show good sportsmanship and tell me where your Miraculous is.”

His vision was blindsided by a sudden glare that was getting closer. It was a spotlight attached to a police helicopter, which meant that they were going to take her in. Which was good.

So, why did have a sinking feeling in his stomach?

Regardless, Miles turned back to Wolf Spider, “So, you’re super cool spider-powers are getting taken away, huh? Brightside, you get a police escort. Lucky you!”

One of the officers started to talk on their speakers. “THIS IS THE POLICE! BOTH OF YOU GET DOWN ON THE GROUND AND PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!”

You can’t be serious.Miles groaned, “Guys! I'm the one who’s trying to stop the crazy lady! I'm not the bad guy here.”

“THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING! SURRENDER NOW OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!” He could see one of them leaning to the side and aimed at Miles.

He was about to say something before his spider-sense alerted something from behind, causing him to tuck his head to evade a spider talon. Miles moved his body side to side from getting hit, but one of the talons slashed him in the back, making letting go, and fell to the side.

Wolf Spider was still able to move. But he was convinced that webbed down her first before he got to the rest of her.

So, how was she still getting up?

Miles and Wolf Spider had a staredown but her eyes landed on the helicopter and grinned. “We’ll continue our little disagreement when we’re alone, partner.”

Part-

What?

His spider-sense went haywire police opened fire on both Wolf Spider and Miles, forcing the two to dodge in different directions.

Crap! As Miles skydived off the roof, he switched to camo and parkoured his way across to a different building as he raced away from the polices search area. Now that he was far away, Miles could confirm a few things.

One: apparently, a spider Miraculous does exist.

Two: it's in the hands of a crazy zealot.

And three --the 'best' part about this-- said zealot wanted Miles dead.

Which wouldn't be that big of a deal if not for the fact he's only been on this earth for FIVE FRACKING DAYS!!!

Miles took a big intake of breath to calm himself down, "Okay. Okay, it'll be fine. It's gonna be fine. Just need to talk to Fu and find Wolf Spider before she hurts anyone again. Maybe get Lugares and Chat to me out." He muttered. He took his phone out, the time showing it was 1:25 A.M. "Something for tomorrow, still got school in a few hours."

With that, Miles began swinging away back to Fus' place. "It's gonna be fine."

Meanwhile, at the Agreste mansion

Gabriel concentrated on any negative emotions anywhere in the last hour and a half. But it seemed whatever was happening was settled.

A pity. He could have used the confusion to his advantage.

He sighed, letting his transformation fall and returning to his main office. Gabriel saw that his computer was still on, so he might as well get some ordinary work done. He still had to finalize some emails for the different companies that are sponsoring the Agreste brand. He made sure to feed Nooroo who ate as quiet as a mouse and retreated into his jacket.

Good. At least Gabriel won't have to tell him again.

A knock came from his door. "Enter." Nathalie entered with her usual poker-faced expression on her face. "I take it you have news on our possibly potential ally?"

"Nothing that isn't new. But I have something that might work in our favor." She clicked something on her tablet, sending him a link. Gabriel opened it and it was a video of people on some rooftop. He immediately recognized one of the persons as Spider-Man, however, it wasn't until further in the video that he understood why he should be aware of this new development.

"So, this Wolf Spider is a Miraculous user." Gabriel scrolled down on the comments and smiled, "And the public seems to be turning against him."

Nathalie sent him images of the grimoire. It would appear that she did some extensive research on this new Miraculous. "After the video was up, I looked in the grimoire to see if there was any record of a spider Miraculous, but nothing came up."

"Because it was lost or stolen," He concentrated hard to check and see if any major negative emotions were resonating off of any Parisians because of this. While there were, none seemed worthwhile to Akumatized.

"Sir," Nathalie pulled him out of his train of thought, "What do you propose we do?"

Gabriel thought for a moment. On one hand, it would be disappointing to kill Spider-Man before Akumatizing him, to see what it took to break such a specimen like him, how'd he turn out. But, on the other, it would be worth it if he could get Ladybug and Chat Noirs' Miraculous.

He sighed before coming to a decision. "We'll try to seek her out. We'll help Wolf Spider kill Spider-Man."

"And if she fails?"

"Then we'll at least try to recover her Miraculous and learn some information on our heroes. Two birds, one stone."

She nodded, going back to her bedroom before stopping, "Just a reminder, you also have an interview tomorrow with one of Adrien's friends; a 'Miles Morales.' Are you really going to let them study together?"

He let out something between a chuckle and a scoff, "Of course not. I only said yes so I can make another Akuma after I reject the boy to his face."

After Nathalie left, feeling content with that answer, Gabriel went back to his work. "Now what will the new designs be for the two of you?"

Paris, France

Wednesday, April 17

Lunch

"I'M TELLING YOU IT'S BULLsh*t!!"

Alya slammed her fist down on the table in aggression, causing Marinette's food to drop off her fork. Though, she doubted Alya cared at the moment.

Marinette sighed for what seemed like the tenth time today, feeling annoyed and tired. Was there a word for that?

Maybe... wearied? Yeah, that's the one.

The reason for that and Alya's outburst? Sometime last night, when she and most likely Chat Noir were asleep, Spider-Man was fighting against a Miraculous user. A spider one. Wolf Spider was the persons' name, the same name that Alya told her about. And that same person put Ms. Bustier in the hospital.

Supposedly, someone recorded their conversation, about the two being 'partners.' Since then, the police issued an arrest warrant for Spider-Man, labeling him a threat to public safety. However, doctors, nurses, and other patients at the hospital where Ms. Bustier was staying stated that Spider-Man was the one who brought her there in the first place.

So, yeah. A lot of people had different opinions about it.

Case in point; Alya. "No way Spider-Man and Wolf Spider are working together! I mean come on, one's insane, and the other's goes out of his way to save people! They have nothing in common!"

Some of the girls at the table seemed disinterested while most were only half-listening.

"Look, Als'," Alix spoke up, "No one's disagreeing with ya, but can we please talk about something else?"

"What, you don't think this kind of thing is important?" Alya asked angrily.

"That's not what I said at all. It's just that we're kind of eating here," She gestured at everyone at the table. "So, if you could talk about all that, like, I don't know, after school that'll be great."

Alya reluctantly dropped the subject after seeing Alixs' point but still had a scowl on her face and asked, “Well, what do you guys want to talk about?”

No one spoke up. Honestly, Marinette was fine just eating her lunch in silence or at least having to talk about Adrien for a bit. But a change of pace would be nice she decided. "Well, what are you guys getting Ms. Bustier for a get-well gift?"

Everyone at the table perked up at that, though no one said anything. Either no had any ideas or they didn't want theirs to sound stupid. Surprisingly, Juleka spoke first. "Well, why don't we all make one great get well card?"

Everyone stared at her, causing her cheeks to redden. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Juleka." Rose slid over, giving her shoulder a reassuring rub.

Marinette nodded, a smile forming on her face. "I agree with Juleka and Rose. We can everyone in our class the school sign it!"

"But wouldn't be hard with just the six of us," Mylene said.

Alya sighed, probably not liking being left out of conversion. "Alix and I can ask the guys if they want to help."

"We'll need like a lot of construction paper from the art club," Alix commented, though her face looked like she just realized something. "But I don't know if the school restocked or not."

“I can some from my room if that's the case. Better to have it just in case they did, you know?” Marinette smiled in earnest.

With everyone having something to do, Alya, Rose, and Mylene went to talk to the boys in their class, and Alix and Juleka went to the art room to get the supplies, Marinette went to her to grab some extra construction paper.

Maybe while she's there, she could sneak in a little snack in the hospital for Ms. Bustier.

Chapter 10: Issue 9 (Oh, What a Bloodied Web We Weave) Part 2

Chapter Text

At Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie

When she entered the bakery, Marinette was greeted with a very peculiar sight. That new student, Miles Morales, seemed to have bought about six chocolate croissants.

She was used to seeing people going a little overboard with her parents' bakery but this was a bit much...

“Thanks again, Ms. Cheng!” He said stuffing one of the croissants into his mouth. Though he stopped after he saw Marinette standing in the doorway.

The two stared at each other for some time before Miles put the half-eaten croissant back in the bag and finished swallowing the rest. "Hey..."

"Hi..." Marinette muttered. Over Miles's shoulder, she could see her mom giving her a small smile. She cleared her throat, "Ima just... move past you, if that's okay."

"O-oh, right. Sorry." He moved to the side, allowing her to get through. She noticed his French was getting better.

"Maman, do we have any more construction paper at all?" Marinette asked.

Her mom nodded, "I didn't need the extra for my art class, so I put the rest in your room. It's on top of your chest." Her eyes darted back to Miles than to Marinette. The ghost of a smirk appeared on her mom's lips and Marinette immediately sensed danger. “Miles, would you be a dear and help my daughter get those art supplies?”

Miles, for his part, looked surprised. As if he wasn't expecting her to ask that. Marinette certainly wasn't. "W-well, uh... I-I mean, if it alright with Marinette, then sure."

Her mom beamed, "Wonderful!" She smiled sweetly at him before turning back to her daughter, "Is that okay with you Marinette?"

She wanted to say no. Not because she didn't think he wasn't nice, but because she knew nothing about him. Only that his mom's a nurse and his dad a cop.

And the fact that he's another person to call Chloé out on her bullsh*t. It scored him three more additional points.

Not that she was keeping score or anything.

Marinette glanced back at her mom who still had that same small unwavering smile on her face. After a moment of thinking, she sighed, turned back to Miles, tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and gave him her answer. "... if you're not busy... sure."

Judging by his face, Miles seemed surprised. "N-naw! I'm... not busy. I usually skip lunch if need be anyhow." He smiled, leftover crumbs of the croissant stuck to the side of his mouth.

Her heart did a little flutter, and for a second she could feel a wee bit of blood rush to her cheeks. But it left as quickly as it came. “You have a little... Um...” She pointed to her mouth for emphasis.

"Oh! Thanks. Lead the way."

If Marinette noticed her mom giving her a carefree smile, she ignored it.

The two made it up the stairs and into the living room expecting her dad to be there. But to her surprise, he was nowhere to be seen. “Maman,” she called down, “Do you know where papa went?”

“He went to the store to get more ingredients."

Marinette let out a small 'oh' before making it to the foot attic stairs, though she mentally prepared herself for him not liking her room-

Wait, why did she care if he liked her room or not? Wouldn't be any skin off her back.

It wasn't the fact that he wasn't falling for Lila's lies so easily like her classmates. Or that he saved her from falling face-first onto the floor that one time at school.

Or the fact that he was super nice and had an extremely kissable face-

She slammed her open palm to both cheeks and shook her head. No! Bad Marinette, Adrien already has a place in your heart. She shouldn't be thinking like that anyway, what if Miles was already in a relationship? She didn't want to be some sort of homewrecker!

“Hey,” Miles spoke unexpectedly. And suddenly Marinette realized that she was staring off into space for a good while now. “Look, uh, sorry about all this. If it’s too uncomfortable for you and me to be in your room alone together, I can just wait for you outside the bakery while you get the supplies.”

Oh great, now she started to feel bad.

Marinette shook her head and sighed, “No, it's fine. You're here now, so it'd be kind of pointless for you to go all of a sudden." She pushed open the attic door a bit before stopping and turning to Miles. "Just... promise me you won't poke fun at my room or anything."

He nodded. "I promise."

With that, the two entered her room. And any anxiety Marinette had transformed to panic when she saw her photos of Adrien were still up all over her bulletin board.

Merde!She had to take them down before-

"Hey, Marinette..."

She froze, her head slowly turning to face Miles who -as she feared- was looking at the pictures. "Why are there photos of Adrien on your wall?" He asked and the boy had the nerve to look confused.

Now, Marinette wasn't the worst at excuses. On the contrary, ever since becoming Ladybug, she's been getting better at those. No matter how absurd they sounded or how they left an ashy taste in her mouth afterward.

But right now, someone other than the girls knows about her crush on Adrien and she couldn't come up with a good enough excuse.

So, the best thing to do in this situation? Double down and try to confuse the opposition to divert their attention.

Marinette pointed an accusing finger at Miles and asked, "I think the better question is; why don't YOU have photos of Adrien on YOUR wall?”

The silence that followed was deafening and embarrassingly uncomfortable as Marinette wanted nothing more than the ground to swallow her up. But it would be worth it if it could change the subject.

“Because I just met Adrien yesterday? And it's not something I would normally do?”

Dart! Curse this boy and his logic!

"Wait a minute," Miles's eyes landed on something because he gave Marinette an understanding look. Like he finally caught on to some big secret. “I think I know what's going on here...”

And then Marinette’s heart plummeted to the ground after hearing him say that.

No. No, surely he didn't figure out that she had a crush on Adrien. And he surely wouldn't tell Adrien about any of this...

Would he?

She stammered a response, "H-hold on, I-I can explain-"

"So I'm right?"

"Well yes--no but... no one else was supposed to find out about this."

"No one? You mean Adrien doesn't know?"

"And I plan on keeping it that way!" Marinette sighed into her hands. This wasn't how the afternoon was supposed to go. “Look I know I'm asking for a lot, but could you not tell Adrien or anyone about this please?"

Miles tilted his head to the side. "Okay, I won't. But I don't see the reason why..."

Of course, he didn't because this wasn't his embarrassing crush to tell. What if he didn't keep his promise and starts to blab to Adrien? Or worst yet, what if Chloé or Lila find out and paint her in the worse light? How the hell was she going to spin this?!

"I mean, I don't think Adrien would care if you're a fan of his dad's."

The panic she was feeling disappeared like someone flipped off a light switch.

What?

"What?"

Not noticing the utter confusion on Marinette's face, he continued. "That's why you have pictures of Adrien in different outfits on your wall, right? Because his dad's some sort of world-famous fashion designer and you're inspiring to be the same.“

Marinette... Hadn't thought about it that way before. Sure, it could be viewed as such but it wasn't something she used as an excuse before.

That doesn't mean she won’t use it now.

“Yeeeep,” Marinette hesitantly responded, popping the P at the end, “That’s exactly what it is. And I'd appreciate it if you don't tell anyone about this. Especially Adrien. I don't want him to think that I only became friends with was because of his dad. Which I didn't!"

Miles let out a small chuckle, "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me." He gave her an earnest smile. It clammed her nerves a bit as she let out a sigh of relief she didn't realize she was holding in.

"Okay. Thanks. Alright, you grab the construction paper while I get the colored pencils and makers." Marinette pointed to her chest.

With a nod, Miles and Marinette went to acquire the supplies. Marinette, still unsure where she stood with Miles, eyed him slightly. She didn't know if he would keep his promise or not. Then she went back looking for those supplies because just staring at him all day was just rude.

"Hey, what's up there?"

Marinette looked over at Miles to see him pointing at the skylight in her ceiling. "Oh, it's just my... balcony and garden..."

"You have a garden?" He asked, sounding impressed and giddy, "Can I see?"

"What? No! We’re not here to take a grand tour around my room! We’re just to-”

And then Miles started giving Marinette a sly smirk, seemingly trying to convince her otherwise. “C’mon, please?”

“Nope.” Swirling around to face away from him, crossing her arms.

She could feel his eyes staring at her. “Please...?”

The two stood in silence, waiting for the other to cave in and give up. But Marinette wasn’t going to.

She was Ladybug for god sake’s, she went up against criminals, stone monsters, people who can bring nightmares to life, and a Miraculous stealing megalomaniac. She had more willpower on par with Chat Noir, so she NOT going to give in that easily.

But as seconds passed, she realized that Miles wasn’t going to either.

So, with a groan, she nodded. “Two minutes. That's all I'm giving you. And I'm coming up with you.”

“Yahtzee!" He cheered, racing up the stairs.

"Hey! Haven't you ever heard of 'ladies first'?" She asked.

"Chivalry is half-dead!" He shouted back.

Marinette rolled her eyes and followed after him. She could hear exclaim, "This view is awesome!" She made it to the top, where Miles gave her a raised brow.

"What?" Marinette asked.

"You said you had a garden, but you have one flower and like, several empty flower pots." He gestured to the Lotus Flower and a bluebell Master Fu gave to her on her birthday in one pot and the vacant ones. "Why do you need so many aways?"

"Well Mr. nosey, if you must know," She huffed, arms crossed and nose facing upwards. "My mas- uh, my teacher says it builds character. And the extras are for when I get more."

Miles leaned against the railing, hands in his pockets. A smile forming. "I've known you for a day and I can clearly say that you have enough character to last a lifetime, baker's girl."

Hearing the nickname Chloé used to ridicule over the years left an agitated feeling in Marinette's chest.

She glared at him and judging by his face, he looked like he made the biggest mistake of his life. Marinette closed the distance between them, grasping the railing with her right hand, "Yeah, well, maybe I want more character on top of the character I already have! You ever think of that?"

Miles put his hands up in mock surrender, sliding over to the left to escape. "Whoa, take it easy! I didn't mean anything by it. I just think that you have a knack for letting the flowers of friendship bloom around you."

The agitation she was feeling vanished and was replaced with confusion. "Was... was that supposed to be some sort of joke?" She asked.

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "Kind of? I... tend to make jokes in awkward situations to lighten the mood. Is your mood lighten?"

She shrugged, "I guess? I'm confused if anything else."

"Better than you being pissed at me."

"Wh- I wasn't 'pissed at you.'"

"Oh? Then why did you look like I kicked your cat."

"That's-" Marinette hesitated before answering, "Because Chloé liked to use that name."

"What? 'Baker's girl?' How does-" The mix of realization and guilt lit up in his eyes. "Oh..."

She nodded, rubbing her arm timidly, "Yeah. She used that name every time she wanted to belittle me. She doesn't use it as often but brings up bad memories."

The first time Chloé started the whole thing was around kindergarten. Her parents came in for a cooking demonstration, seeing how macaroons and other baked goods were made. Marinette doesn't remember much of the details but it was during recess at the playground when Chloé commented about how trashy their food was.

And going a step further, Chloé pushed in some mud and started the name-calling.

'Baker's girl' was one of them.

Everyone, sans Alya, began laughing at her, and the next thing she knew she was curled up underneath her kindergarten teacher's desk. A few days after the incident, she and her parents visited the hospital for a daily check-up.

Where she learned that she had anxiety. Marinette had an anxiety attack on the playground. Thankfully, the anxiety lessened slowly over the years and after she became Ladybug.

"Sorry," Miles said. "I didn't know it upset you so much."

Marinette shook her head, waving her hand dismissively at him. She leaned on the railing, "It's alright. You didn't know, so I can't hold it against you."

"Appreciate you letting me off the hook, but still gotta say it anyway."

She let out a little laugh, smiling at him, "If that's the case, apology accepted."

The two stood on her balcony in comfortable silence. But Marinette couldn't shake the feeling she was forgetting something important.

Miles cleared his throat, bringing her attention back to him, "Right. So, do you mind if I can ask an off-topic question?"

"No, go ahead."

"Okay, well..." He took a moment to gather his thoughts, "What do you think about this whole Spider-Man situation?"

It took her a minute to process the question. "What?"

"Well- I mean..." Miles stammered, finding the words he was looking for, "I heard what happened to Miss Bustier and a lot of people have different options. I just wanted to know yours."

Marinette thought for a moment, looking onto the horizon. It was difficult for her to answer to begin with. From the day Spider-Man showed up out of the blue, Marinette thought he was some secret agent working for HawkMoth just waiting for the right time to show his true colors.

But he didn't.

And if she was any other person, she would have blamed him for putting her teacher in the hospital.

But... "I don't think he did it. All the things the media and police said he did, I mean."

"R-really?" He sounded so surprised. Weird. "What makes you think that?"

Good question.

Now, Marinette was a lot of things; superstitious, jealous, and sometimes making irrational decisions.

But she was, by no accounts, stupid.

Yes, the two never got off to a great start, but that didn't mean she was blind to all the things he did. Like making sure people weren't harmed during Akuma battles, stopping criminals, and (this pained her to say) helping her and Chat Noir tie down the Akumas so they were easier to capture.

"Just common sense." She said, turning back to him. "Think about it; why would he save people only to put someone in the hospital. It doesn't add up."

"Right?!"

She blinked at him, surprised. Then she groaned into her hands, "Please don't tell me you're a fan of his or something."

"Just a little. Why? You don’t like him or something?" He asked.

“Or something.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and inhaled. “Don't ask me why, alright? It's personal.”

Marinette took his silence as him dropping the topic, but the question ‘why’ always nagged at her.

Why does she dislike Spider-Man?

No. Marinette knew why, but it sounded so childish and self-centered that she refused to acknowledge it.

She could hear Miles mutter something along the lines of ‘awkward’ before asking, “You wanna get those art supplies now?”

“Yeah,” She gave him a lopsided grin, “Pretty sure your two minutes are up.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn't know you were counting.” He gave her a grin of his own. “You comin’?”

“Yeah, in a minute.” She said, “I need to tend to my ever-growing garden. And before you say anything; yes, I know that was a pun. And no, it wasn't intentional.”

“Okay, sure, I'll pretend to believe you.” As Miles made his way down, Tikki flew out of her bag.

"He seems nice," Tikki commented, giggling slightly. The eyes on her tiny beamed at Marinette like she was a proud caretaker. "I'm glad you're attempting to like Spider-Man."

Marinette pulled a mini sugar cookie. Pulling the wrapper apart, she gave it to the Kwami. The time on her phone said 12:54 P.M. They weren't going to make it back to lunch on time to start their giant get-well card, so they'll have to do it after school. "I'm not attempting anything. I don't have to like him to know that he's one of the good guys."

Tikki shrugged, "Whatever you say~," She said in a singsong voice, finished with her cookie, and flew back into Marinette's bag. Marinette sighed, she didn't get Tikki's involvement with Ladybug getting along with the webbed wonder, and quite frankly, she wasn't in the mood to ask why. Though, going back to her conversion with Miles, her opinion of Spider-Man started to change.

Suddenly there was this thumping sound. It was low, quiet sounding but she heard it. Marinette waited for the sound to appear again.

Nothing...

Must've been her imagination.

With a shrug, Marinette landed on her bed with a thump and slid down the railing. She saw Miles standing next to the hatch, "I have most of the stuff we need. Who were you talking to up there?"

"Alya. She was just wondering if I was coming back." She half-heartedly chuckled.

"Hey, I never got to ask," He turned to her at the bottom of the stairs and asked, "How'd you and Alya become friends?"

Marinette perked up at the sudden question, "It's nothing groundbreaking. My mom and hers' were college buddies and they introduced Alya and me to each other."

"Heh. Yeah, that sounds..." His sentence drifted off. Miles's head turned to the window and started a slow walk towards it.

"What?" She asked, "What's wrong-"

The ground shook violently, cutting Marinette off and causing her to lose her footing. She would've hit her head trembling down to the bottom if not for a pair of arms that caught her.

It was Miles. Who somehow caught her.

She was grateful for him doing that but with the way he reacted so quickly, it was like he knew this was coming. Because he would've had little to no time at all to react given how sudden the earthquake was.

"You okay?" He asked, setting her on her feet.

She nodded, "I'm fine. Thanks."

Her mom came through the door as soon as Marinette was standing upright, rushing toward her and hugging her tightly. Cupping her daughter's cheeks, "Marinette! Sweetie! Are you okay?!"

"I'm alright, Maman."

"Good. Good," She turned to Miles, "And you, Miles?"

He nodded, "I'm fine." Miles eyeballed the window, walking back toward it.

"Miles, step away from the window." Her mom said.

"Yeah. Just, give me a... second..." His eyes widen at whatever he was looking at, "Whoa..." Miles turned back to them and Marinette could deduce that whatever he saw was less than pleasant. "Quick question, but, uh... how would one know how to contact Ladybug?"

Marinette blinked but her Mom answered him first, "I... would assume using social media. But I heard it was only for emergencies. Why?" Marinette began making her way toward the window. She could hear screaming.

"No reason," Miles said, "Just, um, wanted to know if a giant spider lady thing counts as an emergency."

Marinette made it to the window and she saw it.

True to form, it was a giant spider lady. It didn't LOOK like a lady, the only indication that it was one was because of the slick black hair on its 'head'. It stood at 50 feet and was 15 meters long, had red and grey skin, multiple eyes, and from the looks of it, was able to unhinge its jaw to spit out webs from its mouth. It was using its webs to coat a building into its own spider nest. She saw people screaming and running out of the building and those who didn't get away got ensnared.

Upon further inspection, the people running in a panic were... students and teachers!

Marinette's eyes widen as it clicked. "Oh god," She exclaimed, "That's the school!"

The monster let out a loud screech.

Françoise Dupont

Earlier

Adrien finished the last of his french fries when Nino sat back down beside him. "Hey, so, the girls are getting everyone in our class to make one big get-well card for Ms. Bustier," He jabbed his thumb toward his girlfriend and Mylene, "You wanna help out?"

Regretfully, Adrien shook his head, "Can't, sorry. My father scheduled another photoshoot after school."

When Adrien heard what happened to his teacher he was angered. Angry because that happened when he was asleep, without a care in the world. And then when he heard that Spider-Man was somehow involved, the anger he was feeling was mixed with skepticism.

Skepticism because it didn't add up. Why would he just start attacking innocent people when he's been saving them?

It didn't make any sense.

Then again, Adrien only met the web-head a few times. He didn't know him that well.

Hell, Adrien wasn't even surprised when his father said no when Adrien asked if he could visit his teacher in the hospital.

Just disappointed.

Nino, without his expression changing, just shrugged. "That's cool. You still have time to help out."

"What?" Adrien gave him a look before shaking his head, "Were you not listening? I said I won't be able to-"

"Participate because you have a photoshoot after school, I know." Nino slung his arm over his shoulder and tapped his fist with his arm, "But, I heard that one of the girls was gonna ask the principal if we can end classes a period early. That way you have time to help out with the card because..."

"I won't have to go to the photoshoot until the school day officially ends." Adrien finished with a smile. Things were looking up! "Who came up with the idea? Alya? Marinette?" He said that last part hopefully.

Nino shook his head, "Neither, man. It was Lila."

Speak of the devil and she shall appear, Lila came up behind Adrien and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hi, Adrien~! I hope Nino didn't tell you about my surprise?"

Yeah. That happy feeling Adrien felt earlier?

Might as well have gotten run over by a flaming semi.

But luckily, Nino answered for him, "Ah, shoot. Sorry, Lila. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to tell him."

Lila let out an annoying chuckle, "It's all right Nino. I was planning on telling him away."

Adrien carefully got out of her grasp and hopefully didn't give away how uncomfortable he was. "Right. Uh, thanks... Lila..." He did not need this right now. He needed to leave.

He faced back to Nino, "I'mma head to the restroom."

Nino nodded, "Alright, man. See you back in class."

"Try not to fall in!" Lila chimed, her voice coated in honey.

It made him want to gag.

When he made sure no one else was in the restroom besides him, Plagg flew out of his coat pocket.

"You know," He began, devouring the piece of camembert Adrien gave him, "You could always just tell her not to crawl all over you like that. I know you hate it, kid."

"I'm not disagreeing with you," Adrien let out a sigh, the back of his head hitting the stall door, "But you know why I can't."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. She might get akumatized or whatever. But, kid," The kwami squeezed Adrien's face with its tiny paws. "There's this thing called boundaries. Even I know what that is and I've been alive since the beginning of time!"

Adrien grinned and tried to respond to that when all of a sudden hecould hear...

Thumping?

What the hell was that? In his confusion, he didn't notice Plagg quieting down too. Adrien focused more on the sound only to be met with small sirens going off all at once. Like multiple police cars were zooming past a few buildings over. "Hey, Plagg, do you hear that?"

"Yeah," Plagg did a double-take, "Wait, you can hear it too?"

He shrugged, "Apparently. Am I not supposed to?"

"Not usually, no." Plagg flew a few feet away but Adrien could hear him mutter something along the lines of 'side effects.'

Adrien could hear the sirens getting louder and the thumping getting heavier.

Then it hits him. Those weren't sirens he was hearing.

It was screams.

An Akuma?

The third thumping became heavier than the last as it made the hair on Adrien's body stand on its end, he felt hot and uncomfortable in his skin.

And the sudden urge to leave and figure out what was going on increasing. "I think it's time for Chat Noir to take the reins. Plagg, claws out!"

In a flash of green, Chat Noir broke open the vent above the stall with his staff and crawled out of the other side. After that, he stood on top of one of the chimneys.

The screams were audible now, coming from below him. He looked down and saw people frantically running from something. Adrien dropped down and grabbed one of them by the shoulder, "Hey! Wait! What's going on?!"

"Chat Noir! Are you going to stop the Akuma?!"

Well, at least I know it's an Akuma."Slow down! What does it look like?"

And then, just when he asked that the shook and a dust cloud covered his vision. There was a slight ringing in Adrien's ears but he could make out the person saying 'It's hard to miss' before going back to running.

He vaulted back onto the building and saw it. A giant spider Akuma was currently making a makeshift nest on the building it was standing on. It also was snagging people up who weren't fast enough to getaway.

It took his brain a little while to catch up and realize that the building it was on was the school.

The Akuma let out a screech which shook nearby windows and caused Adrien to cover his ears. He wasn't anywhere near the Akuma, only a few feet from it, but for some reason, it felt like it was shouting right in his ears.

Actually, his senses have been acting weird after Lila's second akumatization. Adrien's hearing increased; when his miraculous wasn't activated, his hearing could hear what was happening in a different classroom, and being near any odor made him want to vomit. And when he was Chat Noir, it was ten times that.

Adrien was bought out of his train of thought when he realized the Akuma spotted him. sh*t.

HawkMoth's signature mask lit up before the Akuma upchucked some spit at him, causing him to leap to the next building over. He looked back and saw that the stuff the Akuma spat at him was webbing. Which ate away through the top interior of the building.

Acid!?Are you kidding me right now?! Adrien thought, dodging and carrying people away, making sure none of that stuff touched anyone else.

The Akuma decided to get smarter as it shot its acid webbing at a family of five, leaving him no choice but to block.

He got in front of them and used his staff as a shield. "Get out of here!"

The family ran just in time for a searing pain to spread throughout his hands, causing him to drop his staff.

Adrien looked down and saw some of the acid eating away at his gloves and the palm of his hands, showing burn marks and some blood. It hurts! Oh god, this hurts!

He then got side tackled into the alleyway. It was Ladybug. She helped him back to his feet, "Are you okay?" She asked, catching a glimpse of his hands. Her eyes widen, "Whoa, what in the world happened?! Your hands-"

Adrien chuckled, but given how much pain he was in it came off as a grimace. "I'm fine. Nothing your miraculous cure can't fix, M'Lady."

Ladybug tried to say something but was cut off by the Akumas screeching. "SPIIIIDER-MAAAN!!" The two leaned against the corner just in time to see that the Akuma finished making its nest and was nowhere in sight. "She must've gone inside. Anything move sets I should look out for, Chat?"

"Well, other than acid spit, none that I saw." Adrien shouldn't be bringing this up but considering the circ*mstances, it needed to be asked. Carefully, he asked, "Do you- uh... do you think Spider-Man knows her or something?"

She didn't answer for a moment then sighed. "I don't know. We can't rule anything out yet. For now, let's just focus and try to find a way inside."

His cat ears perked up at that, remembering the vent came out of. "I think I might have a solution. But we'll have to..." Adrien didn't finish his sentence when he realized that Ladybug's attention was somewhere else. "M'Lady?"

"What in the actual f*ck is he doing?!" She hissed.

Adrien flinched, not expecting Ladybug's mood to turn sour. He followed her gaze to find out what set her off and saw that Spider-Man was sticking to the side of one of the buildings, probably trying to figure out a way to get inside.

Ladybug didn't seem to agree with the sentiment though, "That moron's going to get himself or someone else hurt or killed!" She threw her yoyo at Spider-Man in a perfect pitch, wrapping around his body, startling him, and causing him to fall off. Ladybug reeled him in, flailing around and landing in an open dumpster.

"So," She said, her voice too sugary sweet and a smile that matched, promising nothing but pain, "Care to explain what the hell you were doing?"

Spider-Man managed to get himself out of the garbage and glared at her. But honestly, it was hard to tell because of the face mask. "Well, Iwas trying to find a way inside til a Negra y roja lo saben todo decided to be my nanny. But how was your day?"

Adrien saw her eye twitch in annoyance and then he had to remember Ladybug didn't understand Spanish. So she might interpret what he said as an insult.

Well, it was. Not like she knew that.

"Guys-"

"It was going great until some idiot rushed in without a plan. Again!

"Now's not the time-"

"Oh, if I didn't know any better I'd say you're obsessed with me." Spider-Man let out a sniffle and spoke in a false hurt tone, "If that's the case I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to decline. Can't be in a relationship with an uptight brat."

"Could you two just-"

"Uptight!?" She scoffed, "At least I have a brain in my head! What's yours filled with? Webs?"

Before Spider-Man could say his insult, with an impatient and annoyed shout, Adrien screamed, "HEY!!"

Startled, Ladybug and Spider-Man turned to face Adrien. The both of them were stunned into silence by his outburst but he took it as a sign to take a breath and continue. "Look, you two clearly don't like each other for whatever reason. I don't know why and I couldn't care less."

Up till this point, Adrien was used to this. Them arguing over their tactics and how to do things. It was funny to watch sometimes, seeing them shout over each other after fighting side-by-side. Like some sort of drama superhero sitcom.

But at this current moment and after his lunch ended on a sour note, Adrien was kinda fed up at this point.

"But right now, there is an acid-spitting Akuma who's taken shelter in a school full of students and teachers. So for the time being, until this whole thing is sorted out, could you two put your differences aside and be heroes?!"

Apart from some crumbling debris from the buildings that were hit with acid and Adrien's heavy breathing, silence filled the alleyway. He started to fidget, realizing he wasn't used to being the center of attention as Chat Noir. "Someone say something."

Spider-Man was the first to recover, "sh*t, sorry. I just didn't expect you to blow up like that."

"Neither did I," Ladybug said worry laced in her voice, "Is everything okay, Chat?"

Adrien blinked, blushing slightly. "Aw, you care." He was getting distracted. Focus. "And I'm fine. So are you guys gonna break bread yet? Or..."

The two gave other a look, probably contemplating whether or not to be nice. Then, seemingly surprising Ladybug, Spider-Man held out his head, "Truce?"

She blinked, but then nodded and took the handshake. "Truce. Until the Akuma's dealt with."

"Deal." The three leaned against the corner. The front entrance of the school remained undisturbed and the Akuma hasn't once come out the whole time they were talking. "So, you got a plan, fumblebug?"

Ladybug took a deep breath so she could stop herself from saying something she'll regret, "Well, considering we don't have a way inside, I don't-"

"Oh, actually, I think I might know a way inside."

"Really?" Ladybug asked, sounding a little surprised, "Where?"

Adrien froze, realizing that he couldn't just say he broke open the bathroom vent from inside the school, or else that'll give the indication that he goes to Françoise Dupont. He didn't if Ladybug or Spider-Man went there too, but he couldn't change it.

"I, uh, saw a broken vent on the side of the school. I think they were doing maintenance or something." He said, hesitantly pointing to the right side of the building while coming up with such a flimsy excuse. "We could get the drop on the Akuma if she doesn't see us coming."

Ladybug nodded, "Alright. If that's the case, this might call for some luck."

With a shout of her signature catchphrase, the lucky charm of the day was a cane.

"I think your powers are trying to tell you something," Spider-Man commented, "Beat the Akuma over the head with a stick. It's a bit small, but we can make it work."

Ladybug rolled her eyes, "That's not how my powers work, Webs. It's just one part of the..." She trailed off her sentence. Then her eyes lit up and Adrien could see her formulating a plan in her head.

Then, she smiled, "Okay. Here's the plan."

Basically Chat Noir's reaction to the in-fighting in a nutshell

This one too, no one can tell me otherwise

Chapter 11: Issue 10 (Oh, What a Bloodied Web We Weave) Part 3

Chapter Text

Later

Miles and Chat Noir entered through the busted vent in the side of the building, leading to one of the restrooms in the school. It was probably the only area in the building that was untouched by whatever the Akuma's powers were.

They didn't know what to expect once they exited the bathroom, the only good thing about that was the fact that they could catch the Akuma off guard.

He turned to Chat Noir, remembering what Ladybug told him about his injury. "How are your hands?" Miles asked.

Chat blew a breath between his lips, "Purr-ty good, all things considering."

"You sure, man?"

"Yeah." Chat looked down at his hands and his eyes widened before flashing Miles a co*cky smirk. "See, feline better good already."

Chat lifted his palms to show Miles and to his surprise, Chat's hands, which initially would've shown burn marks and some blood were now replaced with restored flesh with agitated red skin.

Okay, now he was confused. "Can the miraculous, like, heal their wearers or something?"

Chat shrugged, "Maybe. Who knows. But are we really gonna gift horse in the mouth?"

Miles was about to push the issue but thought against it. They had enough on their plate already. "Shall we?"

"After you."

The restroom door opened with a silent creak. Instead of the usual locker room that greeted them, it was webbing coating the walls, lockers, benches, and even the ceiling. It was like a silly string bomb went off, rapping everything in white. He could see little-sized spiders walking on the string. When the webbing came in contact with Chat's baton most of it came apart. At least they knew they were in the right place.

Now they just had to follow the plan Ladybug came up with.

Earlier, before Chat Noir and Spider-Man infiltrated Françoise Dupont

"Okay. Here's the plan." Ladybug brought the two into a group huddle, "I need to get something for this plan to work. In the meantime, Chat, you and Spider-Man get everyone else to safety. Once that happens, you guys try and get the Akuma and Sentimonster outside. Try and get them to the pier, spiders can't swim after all."

She's probably going to go get a new Miraculous from Fu. Miles deduced.But which one? I know there's more than one but Fu seemed pretty tight-lipped about the other ones when I asked. So, do Ladybug and he picks someone who they think is worthy, do the kwamis chose someone themselves, or does Ladybug wear another one with the one she already has? If so, how many can a person wear at a time?

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Chat asked, causing Miles to focus back on their conversion, "The front exit is blocked off and the Akuma will try to attack the classrooms if we move them there. Unless there's another way out."

"There is. Remember where we fought Horrificator?" Ladybug pulled out his yoyo as the case went up and transformed into some sort of phone. The screen showed the blueprints for the school and had a line going left then down, "There's a basem*nt area that's too cramped for the Akuma to enter. The students and teachers should be safe there for the time being."

Chat nodded, but looked worried, "But there's still the issue of getting the Akuma out in the open. I don't think it'll just leave if we ask nicely."

Miles took that as his cue speak, "Actually, if this's who I think it is, I might have a way to get her out. You guys watch the news recently?"

It took them a second to figure out what he was talking about. Ladybug got it before Chat Noir did, "You think the Akuma is Wolf Spider? The woman who tried to kill you last night and put that teacher in the hospital?"

Miles picked up on how Ladybug knew that name but didn't bring it up. "Probably. And honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. Not sure why HawkMoth's helping her though."

"Welcome to Paris," Chat spread his arms wide, gesturing to the alley. "Where a magical terrorist turns the emotionally and mentally unstable into supervillains to try and get some jewelry." The smile Chat wore didn't reach his eyes despite his tone sounding like a jab.

”What Chatmeansis… HawkMoth will use anyone who is emotionally distraught or has malicious intentions just to get our Miraculous. Him Akumatizing a serial killer doesn't surprise me in the slightest." Her eyes widen in realization, "Which means she'll be focused on you then Chat, that way he can get everyone to safety."

"But if HawkMoth catches on about what we're doing, won't he just tell Wolf Spider to come after Chat?" Miles pointed out.

"Then switch," She said, "If she focuses back on one of you, then the other one takes their place. Despite her working with HawkMoth, Wolf Spider's still her own person with her own intentions. If she hates you enough to try and kill you, then I'm sure you'll get her attention."

"Keeping her guessing and pissing her off. I like it! I'm gonna go scout ahead." Chat took out his baton only to let out a hiss of pain and dropped it.

"You good, man?" Miles asked.

Chat waved a dismissive hand at him, "I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." Picking his baton, he vaulted over the building. Miles was confused about why Chat didn't go into detail about what happened before Miles arrived. But he shrugged and went after him until Ladybug grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"Come on, Puntos. I know you meant it when we agreed on the truce," Miles turned to her, and instead of meeting an annoying gaze was replaced with worry. It wasn't directed toward him, but at what? He didn't know, "But somehow this ain't about us, is it?"

"Oh, so you do have a brain in your head." Even though it might have sounded like it, it wasn't intended to be a jab. Ladybug breathed in before saying, "Look, I know I'm asking for a lot but could you keep an eye on Chat Noir?"

"If you're asking me to watch his back, don't worry about it." He said, tugging his arm free, "What happened anyway?"

"Well, he's downplaying it, but Chat got some acid on his hands before you got here."

"Acid? Like 'eats through concrete roof' acid?!" Miles asked, bewildered. "If that's the case, shouldn't he, y'know, not have hands anymore?"

Ladybug nodded, "It's because of the miraculous. It doesn't make us invulnerable, just more durable. So while an injury like that would be fatal to any normal person-"

"It would just give the two of you with some singed skin. Got it." He shot out a web line but stopped, turned his head slightly, and said, "I'll keep an eye on him."

That seemed to make her relax a bit, "That's all I'm asking. Thanks. ...And be careful."

"Yeah. Two questions though; one, what's a Sentimonster?"

"It's a monster created by the holder of the Peaco*ck Miraculous. All we know about them is that they're working with HawkMoth. If they're being forced to or not, we don't know."

"Kay. Second question; how'd you know that spiders don't like water?"

"Common knowledge? And I, uh... might have flicked one into the Seine once when I was a kid..."

"Well, I'll my damnedest not to piss you off, then."

"If this is you at your 'damnedest', then you, webhead, need to try harder."

The two shared a small laugh before going their separate ways.

Now

Miles jumped to the ceiling and peaked his head in the window, seeing that the courtyard and the second floor were the same as the locker room. There was a very tall staircase leading up to two other floors where the nest's makeshift ceiling ended. "Where'd Lugares say the basem*nt door was again?"

Having cleared most of the webbing, Chat leaned against the corner and pointed to the wall on the opposite end. "Through there," Other than a few tiny spiders, the door seemed accessible, "No sign of Wolf Spider yet. Or whatever her Akuma name is. I don't see the hostages either."

"Probably on the final floor." Miles paused before asking, "Does Ladybug always disappear during times like this?"

Chat Noir nodded, "Sometimes. And while it's annoying, I trust her to come back." He put his hand to his chest, "That's what love is; trusting your partner to come through for you. Even in situations like this."

Miles just shrugged, but then snickered and said, "I just assumed you have so much trust in your 'lady' because you're a simp."

"I am not-"

"I grow tired of this!" A voice shouted, screams echoing throughout the building followed by something hitting the ground with a wet spat sound in the center of the courtyard, starling both of them. Upon further inspection, that something... was a person. They wore overalls and brown boots, twitching and convulsing on the ground before falling still, their face burned away leaving a starred corpse.

"We took too long," Miles muttered hotty. He noticed that Chat Noir's grip tighten around his baton. Miles positioned himself to push the sliding window above the door to the side. He put out his hand, "Come on," He said, "If we're quick, no one else has to get hurt."

Chat nodded, a determined glint in his eye. He grabbed onto his hand and Miles swung Chat back and forth until he made it through, falling into a roll, hugged against a pole, and hopping from cover to cover, ascending upwards with Miles right behind him.

When they made it to the final floor, Chat crouched at the base of the stairs, and Miles stuck to the corner wall, they saw that the Akuma had made a platform out of webs. They didn't stick to it, thank god. The first thing Miles noticed was that there were, by his count, twenty-six students and two teachers. Most of them were his classmates, the other half were people he didn't recognize. One of the two teachers was his substitute filling in for Ms. Bustier, the other was Ms. Mendeleiev. All their wrist and ankles were bound.

The other was the Akuma. She was standing over the rest of them with an irritated look, what he could guess. Wolf Spiders' costume changed the last time he saw her. Or rather, her entire person was different. Instead of the pink, black, and white color scheme, the thigh-high boots were a navy blue while the elbow fingerless gloves she had on were a light shade of green, with slick black hair to finish the look. The mask she had on went all the way down to the side of her cheeks, six additional eyes attached.

Buen Dios, that color scheme is terrible! And I thought Goliath was bad...

He felt a familiar tingle at the base of his skull, turning his attention to the pitch-black choker around her neck.

"Found the object." Chat whispered.

Miles nodded, "Yeah. I see it. How the hell are we gonna get it off her?"

"I'll think of something. Us cats are crafty like that." Chat looked around, most likely looking for the Sentimonster, "You know, you'd think that something so big would be easy to find."

"Maybe it turned tail and ran. If she's wearing something as godawful as that, I know I would."

A spider talon shot out of Wolf Spiders' back, slammed into the ground between Alyas' feet, and suspended her in the air, prompting her to let out a short scream, "The longer this drags out, the more of you I kill! What do you know?!"

"Nothing!" Alya shouted. Though, she almost got a talon to the face when she did that.

"B-besides," Nino said, "We're just kids! None of us even know who he is!"

"And it's not like he would tell us outright! It's called a secret identity for a reason!" Alya remarked.

"Lies!" Wolf Spider threw Alya back into the group of people. Nino scooted over to her to check on her, "Either you all are covering for him or he's in this group playing the coward. One thing is certain; the Spider-Man is a student at this high school. His scent lingers here like a stink connected to trash."

Miles felt his stomach drop as a wave of shock and worry crashed over him that he didn't notice his classmates muttering amongst themselves.

"Wait, he goes here? Really?" The big guy with the skull shirt asked.

"He did sound pretty young in those videos, but I didn't think..." The redhead muttered.

"Is he in our class?" The girl with all the buttons and clips asked.

"There is a 50.05% certainty that Spider-Man does go here."

"Children now is not the time!" Ms. Mendeleiev reminded.

"Lila, did you know about this?" Mohawk turned and asked the girl with the braids shaped like sausages named Lila.

"I... might have."

Everyone else started to come up with their theories about who he was but Chat lowered his voice pulling him away from the commission, asking, "Is she right? Do you go here?"

"Dude! Don't take the word of a serial killer, they're all crazy." Miles hissed, remembering not he wasn't alone and that Chat Noir might figure out he went to Françoise Dupont. Have to redirect his focus. Think of a lie. Quick!"Besides, I'm-"

"Hold a moment."

Wolf Spiders' tone turned deathly neutral, like a calm before a storm, and asked, "What would this 'Lila' know about?"

Miles hoped nobody would answer her question, he really did. But from HawkMoths' symbol appearing on her face, Wolf Spiders' smile turning shark-like, and her eyes locking onto Lila, they didn't need to.

She came to whatever conclusion all on her own.

Wolf Spider pointed a clawed finger toward Lila, "You. You're close to the Spider-Man, aren't you?"

The 'Lila' girl paled and rapidly shook her head, "Uh, n-no. No... I-"

"Yes. Yes, you are," A talon caught Lila in between her feet and lifted her above everyone else. "And if I were to endanger your life, he'll have to come out of hiding to try and save you, wouldn't he?"

"Lila!" The girl in pink shouted but was ignored as Wolf Spider hung Lila over the edge.

"She's going to kill her!" Chat warned.

Miles nodded. He caught Chat Noirs' arm before he could move, "I know, man, but we can't do anything stupid. Stay here until I get Wolf Spider away from everyone else." Miles went camo, crawled up to the ceiling directly above her, and waited for an opening.

"SPIDER-MAN!" She shouted, her voice booming like thunder throughout the entire building, "I know you are in here! You have three seconds to make your presence known or your little friend meets whatever heathenness god she worships! One..."

That threat would work wonders if it weren't for the fact that I never met Lila before in my life, but it's not like she'll listen, Miles thought dryly.

"Two-"

¡Las cosas que la gente hace por la fama! He mentally groaned and before Wolf Spider could finish unhinging her jaw, Miles took a deep breath and shouted "Hundred bottles of milk on the wall! Two Hundred bottles of milk! Take one down, pass it around, one hundred and ninety-nine bottles of milk on the wall!"

The way everyone, excluding Wolf Spider, was stunned into surprised muttering made Miles a little co*cky, "Wait, was-was that not what you were goin' for? You have to tell me if you're goin' to sing a campfire song in advance, Wolfy. I'm not a mind reader."

She scanned the area to find Miles, but since the school was so big and the sound carried his voice all over the place, she couldn't pinpoint where he was. A cruel smile blossomed on her face and said, "So you've come. Still the coward I see."

"And I see you're still salty over me sitting ya down last time." Miles said, ready to jump in case she could sense him somehow, "But, you know, there's something different about you, Wolfy. But for the life of me, I can't figure out what. Did you get taller?"

She scoffed, Lila's coat was tearing ever so slightly, "If you mean my name, I discarded it after my goddess asked me to partner up with HawkMoth. I am now the ArachQueen."

What?

Miles didn't say anything for what felt like a solid minute so she took that as her chance to keep speaking, "Now, reveal yourself, or your friend dies."

"Right... before I do any of that, could you tell me your Akuma name again?" Miles asked blankly, sounding unsure because he needed to be sure he heard that correctly.

She quirked a brow at that. HawkMoths' symbol appeared for a split second before it disappeared. Cautiously, she answered, "ArachQueen. If you're stalling for time, it's not going to-"

"I am so sorry."

ArachQueen stiffened, then jerked her head back to the others at the sound of someone's snort of laughter. He assumed it was Bourgeois given how much of a brat she can be.

Her voice was low when she ask, "What."

"It's just- your name. It sucks."

"My name... sucks?" Miles could hear the vein that was popping out of her forehead when she asked that.

The sound of someone choking on laughter reverberated through the school.

"Yeah, dude. 'ArachQueen'. You do know it sounds like 'A rat queen', right? And you look nothing resembling anything close to a rat," Miles paused, "I mean, aside from the smell."

This time, he heard Chat Noir let out a small 'oop’ which caused some people to chuckle silently. And he could hear ArachQueen's blood pressure rising in anger.

"And HawkMoth, if you can hear me behind that psicópata's head, not only is your sense of fashion shot to hell," Miles jumped from the ceiling, shooting a web line to it to swing off of, "Your naming could use a little more... kick!"

Using the momentum, Miles sent a swing kick to ArchQueens' side, sending her and Lila flying off the railing, Lila screaming as she fell into a freefall. He grabbed ArachQueens' exposed talon and flung her to the right side of the third makeshift level of the school. As soon as that happened, Chat Noir moved from his hiding spot to get everyone's bindings off.

Miles managed to catch Lila as she fell, setting her down at the bottom of the second-floor stairs, and asked, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, blood rushing to her cheeks. Getting hung upside down for a while tends to do that, "I'm fine. Uh-"

"Impresionante," Miles jumped onto the railing and noticed ArachQueen getting back up, her face starting to look less human, and catching sight of Chat Noir. He turned his head back to Lila, "BT dubs, you really shouldn't be spreading misinformation about knowing me. People might get jealous."

He jumped, shooting a web line to ArachQueens' face, blocking her from spraying any more acid. "Wolfy! You can't go and pick a new dance partner when I'm right here," Miles shot another web line to one of the classroom windows and pulled, sending ArachQueen flying into a row of desks and chairs.

He web-zipped to the broken window sill, "So, what do ya say, Lobo? Round two?"

Meanwhile

With the last of everyone's restraints undone, Adrien went over to the railing, seeing Lila booking it to the bottom floor and Spider-Man keeping ArachQueen busy, hearing the sound of random objects probably being destroyed or thrown around. He turned back to see everyone trying to get down the flight of stairs, "Hold on, Wait!"

He pressed a feature on his baton, expanding it and upwards and downwards until both ends hit the ceiling and the ground. Latter steps came out of his baton, leading downwards, "There, now you guys can get down faster. Get to the basem*nt and hide there until we get her out of the school."

"Thank you Chat Noir," Ms. Mendeleiev motioned to the students to his baton, "Okay, everyone! Single file line! No pushing!"

With the teachers helping the students down, Adrien jumped to the ground level to ensure everyone was going down safely. His mind was racing after receiving some interesting information.

Spider-Man goes to Françoise Dupont.

Which makes a lot of sense because there's no way Wolf Spider or any other supervillain would take hostages at this specific school for no reason. Well, besides HawkMoth.

Adrien shook the idea out of his head,No. No one's crazy enough to attack a school for no apparent reason. No matter who it is.

So, that leaves the question; who exactly is Spider-Man? And what's his relation towards Wolf Spider?

He brought his hand to his chin to think,Maybe she's his sister? No, the age gaps wouldn't make sense. She probably, like, his mom or aunt.

Adrien, along with everyone else, jumped at the sudden sound of something colliding with a wall and one of Spider-Mans' quips, "You know, I'm getting the distinct feeling you don't like me very much," He said, "You gotta work on your anger issues, Lobo!"

"KILL YOU!" ArachQueen screeched, the smell of melting wallpaper growing strong.

"That right there? That's what I'm talking about!"

Adrien sighed, his hand draped over his face, Or maybe they're not related at all and I'm just overthinking it.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, revealing it to be Rose, "Um, Chat Noir, thank you for saving us. Could you give our thanks to Spider-Man?"

Adrien put aside his little dilemma and gave her his best Chat Noir smile. "No problem. And don't worry, I'll be sure to let him know."

"Chat Noir!" Alya called to him, "I know we're supposed to hide for now, but isn't Ladybug usually with you? Where is she?"

Before he could answer that, a wall on the second floor exploded outwards, sending Spider-Man crashing into a railing on the other side of the room. He grabbed onto it to prevent him from falling to the ground.

"You okay?!" He called out to him.

"Apart from the bruised ribs, I'm fine." He said.

With a war cry, ArachQueen lunged at Spider-Man, who flipped on top of the railing, dodging her talons, and jumped away. However, ArachQueen shot some webbing of her own, snagging onto his arm and slamming him to the ground.

"Okay, Go and hide! Both of you!" Adrien told Rose and Alya, seeing them retreat with the rest of their classmates.

After letting out a groan of pain, ArachQueen was probably going to finish Spider-Man off if not for HawkMoths’ symbol appearing on her face. “I’ll get you your jewelry after I kill this pretender. Just looking at him makes me sick.”

The symbol glowed brighter, causing her to clutch her head in pain. While she was occupied, Adrien raced over to Spider-Man and helped him up. Catching a whiff of blood in the air that was coming from his arm, “You’re bleeding.” He said.

“Yeah, I noticed that,” Spider-Man grimaced, using his webs to cover the wound. “She has some type of razor webbing. She didn't have that before, so watch out for that.”

"Noted."

The purple mask’s glow dimmed, causing her to stand up straighter, “Fine. Be thankful my goddess is so lenient, HawkMoth."

Adrien raised a confused brow at Spider-Man and muttered, "Goddess?"

He shrugged, getting into a fighting stance, "Told you, Gato. Crazy, with a capital C."

She dropped from her perch and Adrien saw a look in her eyes. He didn't like it.

Despite HawkMoth trying to change her with his powers, there was no way he could get rid of her insanity. It burned behind her eyes like a focused forest fire.

This wasn't like fighting an enraged teenager or a crying toddler, this was a person who killed people and justified it while willingly accepting power from a magical terrorist.

It made him on edge because while he and Ladybug fought akumatized criminals before, none of them were serial killers.

"Chat Noir," She said, glaring at the both of them, "Hand over your Miraculous peacefully and give me the Spider-Man so he may die at my hand."

"Interesting offer. But before I come to my final decision," He reached behind his back, "I think we need to converse with my-" He stopped mid-sentence, realizing that he was grasping at air. "Staff..."

Spider-Man then muttered, saying, "You do realize that your staff is currently being used as a-"

"Step-latter. Yeah, I caught that." Adrien shot a stink eye towards Spider-Man and gave a nervous smile to the Akuma, "I don't suppose we can postpone this little meeting of ours, right?"

ArachQueen's smile turned sharklike, "What do you think?" She launched herself at the two, forcing them to split. She was about to go for Spider-Man when HawkMoths' symbol appeared on her face again, causing her to grimace and go after Adrien instead.

He avoided multiple talons coming for his vital areas, but she was slightly faster than him so she managed to cut him across the chest. Before she could stab at his heart, Spider-Man, who was currently upside down on the bottom of the rafter, shot four web lines to ArachQueens' talons, drugging her back, allowing Adrien to score a few good hits, delivering a spinning hook kick to her jaw, and knocking her back.

All that did, however, was piss her off.

ArachQueen used that momentum, tugged the spider webs downward, and severed them from her. She spat acid at the both of them, forcing Spider-Man up to the rafters and Adrien to jump back and sideways. However, as he was doing this, ArachQueen started to attack him again, ducking under her talons that combined and were aiming for his head. But that gave her an opening to use her talons to sweep his legs and do a back kick to his stomach, sending him flying into a wall.

He felt something sticky and sharp hit his wrists and attach itself to the wall like someone glued a cactus needle to his skin. It was the razor webbing Spider-Man was talking about.

Adrien tried to tear it off him, but all that ended up doing was making the razor cut into him deeper. He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, ArachQueen kicking Spider-Man through a classroom window and shooting webbing at him, rushed toward Adrien and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him into the air and making the webbing cut deeper into his skin.

"Your Miraculous. I won't ask again." She ordered coldly, her grip tightening.

"Hard... pass!" He choked out. "'Sides, I only take requests from one purr-fect lady in my life and she isn't you."

"Well then, you'll be happy to know she'll attend your funeral when you die."

As she said that, ArachQueen began to unhinge her jaw to reveal four rows of shape needle-like teeth, drool dripping down from her mouth. Adrien stopped her from going for his throat by putting his foot against her stomach to keep her from getting closer.

But even as he did that, he was stuck in a difficult situation. No staff, Ladybug was getting something from Master Fu, Spider-Man appeared to be out of commission, and judging from how closer ArachQueen was getting each time her jaw snapped shut, she was stronger than him.

Even worse, he couldn't use Cataclysm to get out of this situation because

She was so close that he could see what was on her teeth.

It was blood.

The blood of the janitor she killed when he and Spider-Man entered the school.

And that janitor seemed to have had his throat bitten out when he got a glimpse of him. If the guy wasn't dead from the blood loss and having his face burned off, the fall from the makeshift third floor finished the job.

And this lady didn't seem to care who she was killing, as long as it meant pleasing her 'goddess'.

M'Lady, where the hell are you?!Adrien thought as ArachQueens' jaw was inching too close to his throat.

Before she could take a bite out of him, Spider-Man leaped onto her back and dragged her off of him, giving Adrien a chance to breathe, saying, "Sorry, animal cruelty is not on today's agenda! Not with so many kids around," He jumped off her with two web lines on her back and-

-Pulled. "Afraid I'm gonna have to ask you to leave!" Miles throw ArachQueen over his shoulder and sent her flying to one of the support beams, ricocheting off it and landing in a classroom.

"Hope that hurt..." Miles muttered, making his way to the cat-themed hero. "You alright?" He asked.

"I'd be feeling better if I wasn't stuck to a wall," Chat Noir tried to tug his hand free but to no avail. "Mind giving me a paw?" He asked letting out a sigh.

"I can give you a hand. Paws are for cats." He remarked, managing to tear the razor webbing off of Chat Noir, "So, after being up close and personal with our resident psycho, do you believe me now when I say she's un poco loca?"

"'A little' is an understatement, Webhead," He said, massaging his wrist. "Where's everyone else?"

Miles gestured to the door to the school basem*nt, "They're safe. Saw one of them lock the door behind them. They'll be safe."

Chat nodded, "Great. Now let me just-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as Miles lunged into Chat Noir when his Spider-sense went off, grabbing him by the back of his collar to avoid the two talons that were aimed at their heads. The buzzing in his brain didn't stop, so he carried Chat bridal style and began dodging both razor webbing and talons alike.

Miles saw ArachQueen launch herself toward the two, prompting him to kick off the wall to avoid her. He didn't take into account how heavy Chat Noir was or how long ArachQueens' reach was.

Or the fact that HawkMoth gave her the same adhesive abilities as Miles.

Brushing against the bottom of Miles's foot was enough as she pulled him toward her, grabbed them both by the ankle, and slammed them both to the ground. "Ow..." Chat groaned before she flung the both of them into a wall, her razor webbing sticking their wrist and ankles to the wall.

"Well, that sucked..." Miles muttered. He turned to Chat Noir, "Think you can use your Cataclysm on the wall to get us out of this?"

"You mean the wall we're currently stuck to?" Chat said, brow raised.

Ah... That makes sense. He shivered. If Cataclysm can destroy most things, Miles did not want to see or experience what happens when comes into contact with a human being.

Miles tried pulling his arm free only to get a kick in the stomach from AcrachQueen. One of her talons missed his head by an inch.

ArachQueen just chuckled, "You're fast, pretender, I'll give you that. But I have my goddess's power by my side. You had no hope of defeating me."

"Uh, sorry to cut in," Chat Noir interrupted, "But does your goddess offer free dental by any chance? Asking for a friend." He inclined his head towards Miles.

"Wha- Dude! Why would I need dental?" Miles asked in an offended tone.

He shrugged, "I don't know what you're teeth look like under that mask."

Then it clicked.

They didn't know when Ladybug was coming and the two didn't plan on getting captured so quickly. So Chat Noir seemingly came up with a plan of his own.

Stall.

"Dude, I'll have you know that I have teeth that are clear as mirrors." ArachQueen looked in between the two of them, confused and slowly growing annoyed at how they were both just doing their own thing and ignoring her.

Chat shook his head in disappointment, "That was the worst analogy you could've used."

"What? How was that 'the worst'?"

"You're saying that your teeth are clear like mirrors, right? You're basically calling them reflective. Who wants reflective teeth?" He turned to ArachQueen, "Do YOU want reflective teeth?"

"No." She growled. Chat looked at Miles with a clear look of 'see?' on his face.

Miles caught the vein popping from her forehead but continued, "You got a better one, Gato?"

"I do, actually." He cleared his throat, "'My teeth are as shiny as pearls.' That's way better than mirrors."

"I mean, shiny trash does exist. And the term is hyperbole."

"What?"

"What you just said," Miles clarified, "That was a hyperbole, not an analogy."

Chat Noir shrugged before asking, "What's the difference?"

"Well-," Miles started, but before he could answer, ArachQueen slammed the blunt end of her talons into their stomachs, ending the conversation.

She growled, "Both of you, shut up. Your incessant bickering is pissing me off."

Miles chuckled at that, letting out a slight cough and speaking in a false royalty voice "Our sincerest apologies, su alteza. But we don't take orders from crazy zealots."

"Especially if that zealot likes attacking people all to please some goddess that probably doesn't exist." Chat snarked.

"You dare question my loyalty to my goddess?" ArachQueen snarled, digging the blunt end of her talons further into their stomachs in retaliation.

"Your loyalty? No. In fact, I relate to you on that front." Chat said. He added, "Your sanity on the other hand is a whole 'nother thing entirely."

"But hey, look on the bright side," Miles said, "At least when the police haul you off to an insane asylum you can make friends with the other crazies."

ArachQueen's face scrunched in rage and before she could do anything, HawkMoths' symbol appeared on her face, requiring her focus.

"That day may come, but not today. I'll kill you after I've taken Chat Noirs' Miraculous." She Miles a stink eye before saying, "And make no mistake, pretender; your death will not be a painless one. That will be the price for stealing a portion of my goddess's power."

ArachQueen then stomped her heel against Chat Noir's forearm to keep him from squirming. She went to take his ring off his finger, but before it was completely off, Miles blurted out, "Don't you wanna know how I got my powers?!"

Chat gave him an alarmed look that screamed 'what the hell are you doing?!'. Miles gave him a small shrug in response because he didn't know either. He panicked when she almost took Chat Noirs' Miraculous and just said the first thing that came to mind.

Also adding to the fact that ArachQueen hates his guts, he also knows that neither ArachQueen nor HawkMoth could pass up on the chance of creating an army of Spider-Men. That's something no megalomaniac would pass up.

Well, from the looks of it, maybe not ArachQueen, but HawkMoth would most likely want his powers for himself. It was a gamble, but one he was gonna have to take.

Though, since he said it on impulse he didn't have a plan on what to say.

His parents and Ganke did tell him he had a habit of speaking without thinking first.

Besides, I don't even think HawkMoth is stupid enough to believe me.

ArachQueen paused and turn to him, disinterest clear in her eyes was about to dismiss him when HawkMoths' symbol appeared on her face. Which caused her to scowl. "Explain." She demanded.

Never mind, he is that stupid."Before I give my second most guarded secret, I gotta know; is this the zealot asking or HawkMoth?"

Her scowl deepened, forcing herself to answer, "HawkMoth."

REALLY stupid."Cool, cool. Just checking," He muttered, "They are two pieces of equipment for my powers. The first one is the mini-gauntlets on my wrists."

Judging from how her face contorted in rage, ArachQueen didn't make a move to get his web-shooters and instead looked like she want to kill him. She leaned in, getting right into his face. "If you think I want anything from you other than your life, then you're more stupid than I thought." She spat.

HawkMoths' symbol appeared again only this time causing ArachQueen to clutch her head in pain. However, Miles used this time to try and rip the webbing off his right leg, feeling bits of it quietly snap under his strength.

He stopped when ArachQueen shook off the symbol, glared at Miles, and went to grab his web-shooters from his wrist. She examined them before asking, "How do they work?"

"Well," Miles started, preparing himself to bullsh*t, "It's the thing that lets me swing around the city and shoot webs."

"That's it?" Chat asked.

Miles nodded, "Basically, yeah."

However, what no one saw coming was when ArachQueen coated his web-shooters in acid and let the melting mess fall to the ground. "I have no use for your trinkets and tools, pretender."

"Dude," Miles breathed, "Do you have any idea how long those took to make?"

"Doesn't take that long if you're handing those things out like candy." Chat said.

"You're just jealous that my powers are cooler than yours." Miles shot back.

Chat sighed dramatically and if his hands weren't stuck to a wall, he would've put one of them over his forehead. At least, that's what Miles thought he would do, "Oh woe is me! How will I ever recover from not having the ability to make durable silly string and lifting things a little easier?"

Before Miles could retort, ArachQueen stabbed a talon in between their heads, cutting them off. "I'll warn you both once more; speak when spoken to or I'll kill the both of you. Now, what's this second piece of equipment, pretender?"

Miles glared at her but continued, "The second one is the invisible belt around my waist. It allows me to do anything a spider can; wallcrawling, proportionate strength and speed of a spider, and the going invisible." Miles went invisible as an example before being visible again. “See? Except for the swinging around part, you’ll basically have your own homemade Spider-Man.”

HawkMoth symbol appeared on ArachQueens' face and Miles could immediately tell that HawkMoth was using her to speak through her, "And this belt is invisible, correct?"

He nodded, "Just keep it PG, alright, moth-man?"

If HawkMoth showed any emotion through ArachQueen, he didn't let it show. She began feeling around his waist, impatiently asking where it was.

Luckily, the webbing on his leg was about to snap and she was at the perfect angle to catch her off guard. "Right. there!" Miles shot his knee upward in her chin followed by him snapping his leg upward. He managed to his left hand free and went in for a punch. At the very last moment, she dodged, but as she did Miles charged his hand up with venom and pulled it back, tagging her a little in the neck.

ArachQueen went in to bite his face off but Miles used his free foot and pushed her off, falling to the ground with a hard creak.

"Holy sh*t." Chat breathed as Miles got himself free, "Was that your plan? Just for her to get close and kick her in the teeth?"

"Yeah. I mean, it hinged on the fact if HawkMoth was stupid enough to take the bait."

"If that's the case, solid plan."

As he was getting the last of the webbing off of Chat Noir, ArachQueen didn't look happy. At all. And from the looks of a familiar symbol appearing on her face again, neither was HawkMoth. "You deceiving little sh*t!" (S)he hissed.

"I know, I know. I'm a big fat liar for tricking you into believing my powers were artificial," Miles mocked, "In hindsight, it's kinda your fault for falling for it. HawkMoth. Not the zealot."

And just then, his symbol vanished like blowing out a candle, giving ArachQueen control back. She then launched herself at both of them.

Or at least, tried to.

All she did was fall on one knee, then his venom coursed through her body as she let out a shrill scream. Miles and Chats' collective jaws dropped however when ArachQueen reverted to Wolf Spider. "What... have you done?!" She demanded weakly, having a hard time standing up.

"Wait, you did that?" Chat asked, perplexed at the whole thing, "You purified the Akuma? How?"

Miles just shrugged, "No lo sé, tío. I'm just as confused as you." They both gave Wolf Spider(?) a look-over and as if it was simultaneous, Miles and Chat Noir came to the same conclusion.

Wolf Spider(?) probably didn't have to same powers as before.

It was evident in the fact that her clothes changed back when he first met her and her Miraculous was beeping.

Chat was the first one to move, lunging at her. Wolf Spider wasn't quick enough to move out of the way and the two fell into a short tussle with Chat Noir coming out on top, holding both her arms but unfortunately unable to grab her Miraculous. "Spidey! Get her Miraculous! Hurry!"

He nodded and remembering that he didn't have his web-shooters anymore, Miles lunged at her.

However, in that split-second time frame, his Spider-sense went off as that same black substance that Goliath had consumed Wolf Spider, giving her an extra strength boost. She got her legs from Chat Noirs' hold and kicked Miles to the other side of the building.

"I'm starting to get tired of getting kicked all over the place." Miles groaned.

He saw Chat getting thrown into his staff, turning it back into its' normal size, and massaging the back of his neck. "Oh, good. So, I'm not the only one."

The two looked over at Wolf Spider who somehow turned back into ArachQueen. She was back on her feet, breathing heavily and for whatever reason, HawkMoths' symbol seemed to be flicking in and out of existence. "Kill you..." She slurred, gripping her head, "Destroy... Miraculous! No! Capture... pretender? My... head hurts! Can't... think straight."

"Yo, Gato," Miles went over and tapped Chat Noir on the shoulder, "Is this supposed to happen? Like, this isn't normal, right?"

"Nothing about the Miraculous or HawkMoth is normal," Chat looked like he was considering something, but didn't fully commit, "But no, this never happened before. I have no clue what's going on but we have to get her out of the building. You remember the plan?"

"Don't worry about me. Get ready."

Chat Noir nodded, running over to the far east wall and placing his palm flat on it while his back was turned to it.

Wish I had my web-shooters on for this, but I'll deal. Miles took a deep breath and leaped onto one of the railings before speaking, "Y'know, for someone who has complete loyalty to a goddess, you sure like to bow your head to a normal person."

"What... nonsense... are you spouting!?" ArachQueen grounded out.

"What I'm saying is that you're a hypocrite," Miles noticed her twitch, her face growing red, "Aside from the web-shooters, none of my powers are artificial or magical. It's alllll me. The first time you attacked, you couldn't do half the stuff you're doing now. You only got this power up because of HawkMoth. Maybe I am a pretender, but I know what I'm not; being used as a puppet by a moth."

There was this long uncomfortable silence as Miles and Chat Noir waited on bated breath for ArachQueens' reaction. They expected her to explode in rage.

Instead, she just let out a low chuckle. Which rose into out-of-control psychotic laughter. ArachQueen calmed down after a while before an ugly scowl appeared on her face. "HawkMoth, change of plans,"

Her right arm started to twitch violently and her eyes started turning black.

"I'll get you Chat Noirs' Miraculous AFTER I KILL THE SPIDER-MAN!!!"

As she finished that sentence, Miles's spider-sense went off as a massive spider talon that came out of the arm that was twitching and embedded itself into the railing, dodging the attack and skidding next to Chat Noir. "Oh, that's a problem."

They turned their focus away from the talon the size of two monster trucks to ArachQueen who was screaming in pain, her body forcefully going through a change. She grew five extra talons out of her sides, each one destroying pieces of the school in the process. Her face and body started looking less than human, becoming more spider-like with her face opening up as she screeched. "SPIIIIDER-MAAAAN!!!"

"You're aware you have a knack for pissing people off, right?" Chat asked, backing up to the wall.

"It's my gift to the world," Miles shrugged, although feeling undoubtedly nervous about having to fight without his web-shooters for the first time in a long time, "Just keep that Cataclysme of yours ready. I'll tell you when."

He never got a response as ArachQueen finished mutating and suddenly Miles realized that the giant spider he saw at Marinettes' wasn't a Sentimonster at all, but ArachQueen herself. The only good thing that came out of that realization was that there was no Sentimonster to deal with.

And when Miles' spider-sense went off like a foghorn, ArachQueen barreling towards the two with a high-pitched screech, he gave Chat Noir the signal. "NOW!"

"Cataclysme!"

The effect wasn't immediate but it did its job. Then Miles grabbed Chat Noirs' wrist and using his staff, the two vaulted over ArachQueen to one of the undamaged rafters, leading her to fall face first into the weakened wall, which fell apart like wet sandpaper.

Thankfully, they made sure no one was around the school during the active Akuma attack. So, she fell into an empty street.

Step one's done. Now comes the hard part. He turned to Chat, "I'll go ahead and lead her to the pier, think you can get the hostages out and have you and Ladybug meet me there?"

"I'll make sure m'Lady gets the message. You sure you hold out by yourself?" He asked.

Miles let out a short laugh, "I've been doing this 'by myself' for two months, I think can manage."

With that, Miles leaped to the ArachQueens' area of her vicinity, gaining her attention and racing to the pier.

Chapter 12: Issue 11 (Oh, What a Bloodied Web We Weave) Part 4

Chapter Text

A few minutes later

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL RIP THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES AND TEAR YOUR HEART OUT OF YOUR CHEST!!"

Seriously, what did Spidey do, take her lottery ticket?!

Adrien slid under ArachQueens' talon as it knocked some cars, vans, a mailbox, and a truck off the street and jumped onto a rooftop, not slowing down at all as he saw Spider-Man jumping over some acid webbing that was aimed at the back of his head and landed sideways on a lamp-post. "Hey, could you maybe not destroy other people's private property just because you're mad! Car insurance costs way too much nowadays." Spider-Man jumped off and started to run alongside Adrien. "So, how's your day been!?" He shouted over the raging screeches coming from behind them.

Adrien shrugged, "Other than this, pretty good! I mean, I had a girl I'm not particularly fond of try and hang on my arm at the end of my lunch break!"

"Really?" He sidestepped to the left to avoid being skewered, "If you don't like her, then why not just tell her no? It's amazing what saying that word can do."

Adrien skidded to a halt and put his staff up to block a talon slamming downwards, "My situation's... a bit complicated."

Spider-Man jumped off the talon and delivered a kick to ArachQueens' chin, causing her to stagger back, and the two went back to running, "Complicated how? Like, is it 'she has blackmail on me' complicated? Or is it 'I'll get in trouble with mom and/or dad if I say anything' complicated?"

"It's... a version of the latter." If he was waiting for Spider-Man to press the issue, he didn't say anything as the two spotted the pier with its lighthouse poking out from the distance. "Alright, we're almost there. Now we have to hold there long enough for-"

"JUMP!"

Adrien didn't get a chance to say anything before he was grabbed by the wrist and jumped. He didn't understand Spider-Man did that all of a sudden until a whistling sound could be heard, followed by a loud crashing sound coming from behind them, the wind pressure blowing them onto an opposite rooftop.

As dust surrounded the two, Adrien realized that ArachQueen had jumped in the air and intended to squash them. And she would've succeeded if Spider-man hadn't dragged them both to safety. The white gleam that reflected from her black, lifeless eyes caused him to tease a bit.

Through the slight ringing in his ear, he asks, "How'd you know?"

"Know what?"

Adrien scowled. He can't think I'm that stupid. It wasn't like it was the first time he was confused at how Spider-Man knew an attack was coming seconds before it happened. He just started to realize it was a pattern than a reflex thing. Adrien didn't ask because Spider-Man would always leave after every fight, so he just dropped it. It bothered him, but not enough to hunt down the guy. But after hearing Spider-Man say 'I'll tell you when' when they were back at the school raised a lot more questions. Adrien needed answers to those questions if the Webheads' powerset would make sense.

"I'm pretty sure you didn't even look behind you, yet you somehow knew that ArachQueen would try and turn us into two raspberry pancakes. So how'd you know?" He asked again, insistent on getting an answer out of him.

"I-" He didn't finish. What Adrien got as an answer was him getting grabbed by the bell and thrown to avoid getting impaled again. "All I'll say at the moment is that it's part of my move set," Spider-Man said, landing on a chimney next to Adrien. "Happy?"

"No. That raises even more questions!" They both dodged incoming acid spit, but ArachQueen seemed to anticipate that when the top part of her human torso grew out of the top of her spider head and shot out two strands of webbing out of her human mouth as they were hitting the ground. Although, it didn't look human when the bottom part of her mouth opened downwards.

Creepy.

But just because it was unsettling doesn't mean it wasn't practical because the web strands connected onto Adrien's forearm and Spider-Man's ankle and slammed them into a bus. Adrien could feel two of his ribs break on one of the metal railings, causing him to groan. Welp... There goes one of my nine lives.

"See what happens when you ask too many questions?" Spider-Man grumbled, sitting up off one of the seats. "We get thrown into vehicles."

"Yeah, well, at least you landed on something soft."

The hole in the bus's roof was ripped open further, with Spider-Man being yanked out and Adrien being pinned down by the blunt end of her talon on his stomach. He reached for his staff but realized he had dropped outside the bus while they were flying through the air. And there wasn't anything he could Cataclysme that would help them out of their dilemma.

Thank God for magic for preventing his stomach from becoming flatbread.

"Finally," She growled, gripping one hand around Spiderman's throat and the other around his wrists, "I finally have you. No more tricks. No more false promises of power. Nothing and no one to save you from your death."

So, now panicking, Adrien did the only thing he could do in his situation; talk the Akumas' ear off till they go crazy. "What about puns and quips? Because you have to admit, our jokes are pretty paw-some."

That caused her to put more pressure on him, "If you do not shut up, I'll dissolve you and your Miraculous whole." HawkMoths' symbol appeared on her as she grimaced before shaking it off, snarling, "NO! I obey no one but my Goddess! I offer her my praise and sacrifices in exchange for strength! Sacrifices like these two."

"Can confirm," Spider-Man choked out, "Totally feelin' the praise from here."

"No doubt. Do we start praying at any church, or is it more of a shrine type of thing?" Adrien commented.

"Gotta say, we're definitely gettin' these quips out while we're running out of oxygen at record speed."

"Right?"

ArachQueen lifted her talon off Adrien before slamming it back down, feeling one of his broken ribs press against his lung. As for Spider-Man, she just squeezed harder around his throat. "I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that your little 'jokes' have grown old." Mouth opening downward, she slowly leaned in with acid dripping from her mouth. Some of which almost landed on Adrien.

"So I think it's high time for you to DIE."

Then he heard it.

A sharp whistling sound came rushing in and smacked ArachQueen on the side of her face. It didn't do anything other than making her stop what she was doing and inspecting it. "The hell is this? A flute?"

Adrien blinked and then started to chuckle. "Well, They sure took their time."

As if on cue, an orange blur swung off ArachQueens' arm and kicked her in the side of her face. At the same time, LadyBugs' yo-yo wrapped around ArachQueens' spider abdomen and pulled. That, along with getting hit in the face, caused her to stagger back, giving Adrien enough room to move and jump out of the bus and let go of Spider-Man.

Then the two ducked behind a nearby alleyway, catching their breath. ArachQueen lost sight of them and started looking around. "You okay?" He asked.

"Fine," Spider-Man coughed, "Although I'm really missing my web shooters right now."

"That's why I always stick to my good old-fashion yo-yo," Ladybug dropped down next to them, her yo-yo hitting the top of Spider-Mans' head before she caught it. "It returns to me, I can wrap it around my hip like a belt, it can turn into a phone, and it's indestructible, so it can't be destroyed by something like acid."

"All I'm hearing is that it's a clunky, overused multitool," Spider-Man soothed his head, "You also forgot to mention that you can pull seemly random and useless objects out of thin air with that yo-yo and still win. Mine pulls, swings, and goes 'thwip.'"

Before Adrien could step in and stop another argument, Rena did that for him. "Is... it like a bad day for these two, or is this an ongoing thing?" She asked.

Adrien shrugged because he didn't know the answer himself. "I'll let you know when I figure it out. These two apparently don't like the concept of meeting new people."

"Speaking of new people, who is this?" Spider-Man asked.

"Right. I forgot this is the first time you two are meeting," Ladybug sighed. "Spider-Man, this is-"

"Rena. Rena Rouge." She held her hand out, "Nice to meet you, Spidey."

Seconds before ArachQueens' transformation

Marinette vaulted, swung, and sprinted from rooftop to rooftop, picking the fast route back to Françoise Dupont with the fox Miraculous in hand. Master Fus' place and the school being so far apart didn't help either.

Luckily, when she got there, Master Fu already had the Miracle Box out, so she could grab what she wanted quickly.

Marinette wasn't going to question it. For all she knew, he, along with everyone else in Paris, heard the Akumas' scream.

She pushed it out of her mind. It wasn't necessary; figuring out a plan to give the Miraculous to Alya without anyone noticing was at the moment.

Marinette thought about calling her, but if she were hiding with other people, it would jeopardize Rena Rouge's identity if she left suddenly, so that was a bust. Maybe texting her...? No, she'd question how I have her number in the first place.

A loud, ear-piercing screech startled her, derailing her train of thought and causing her to lose her footing mid-jump, slipping off the roof. Crap! She flicked her yo-yo to the nearest lamp post and swung herself upwards, grabbing onto an antenna.

From her view, Marinette saw Wolf Spiders' Sentimonster bursting out of the school like some oversized tank and crashing into another building. It looked like it had lost momentum, resulting in a headlong collision. Out of the destroyed wall came Spider-Man, jumping off the Sentimonsters head and sprinting towards the pier with the Sentimonster hot on his heels.

Sorry, Webhead. Just hold out for a little longer. At least until I try and capture Wolf Spiders Akuma. Marinette swung inside the school, expecting to find Chat Noir and the Akuma fighting but instead found Chat Noir evacuating the teachers and students out of the school. Marinette began to panic; she was sure she didn't see Wolf Spider leave the school, so where was she?

"Ladybug!" Chat shouted, running over to her after everyone began to leave, "You made it. Did you get what you wanted?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I just saw Spider-Man leading the Sentimonster to the pier. I didn't see Wolf Spider on my way in, though. Do you have any idea where she went?"

Chat uncharacteristically hesitated, avoiding eye contact with her. He took a second before starting, "Okay, I have good and bad news. The good news is that there's no Sentimonster."

She stared blankly at him for a moment, confused, then said, "Chat, if this is you making some sort of joke, now's not the best time because I just saw it burst out of the school."

"Right. Y-yeah, you're right," Chat stammered, "That's where the bad news comes in. That thing you saw wasn't a Sentimonster; it was Wolf Spider. Or ArachQueen is what she's calling herself."

Marinette gave a small laugh of disbelief, "Are you telling me that the thing saw just now was-"

"The Akuma. Yes."

Alright. So, there was no Sentimonster, and she just sent someone who, admittedly, she did not like but didn't want dead out as bait. No biggie, her conscience can handle that. Marinette took a second to take that all in, and before she could answer, out of the corner of her eye, she caught Alya being yelled at by Ms. Mendeleiev. She probably separated herself from the others to record the indoor fight for the Ladyblog. Again.

Their eyes met, with Marinette letting Alya catch a glimpse of the fox Miraculous. She flicked her eyes to the left in hopes Alya would get the hint to hide and wait somewhere. She didn't see her reaction as she turned her attention back to Chat. "Okay, new plan. You help Spider-Man with ArachQueen, and I'll get Rena Rouge. Try not to die before we get to you guys."

Chat gave a lopsided grin and shrugged, "I'll try. And even if I do, I got nine lives, remember?"

Marinette rolled her eyes as he disappeared from around the corner. She looked over her shoulder and saw Alya whisper something to Nino and with a nod, the two went their separate ways. With Nino probably going to record some of the fight and Alya going to a more secluded spot to meet her.

Marinette reached the rooftops and saw Alya slip into a nearby Alleyway. Aside from a handprint around her neck, which made Marinette's stomach turn when she saw, Alya seemed fine. Marinette dropped down to the side of her. "Hey, Alya."

"Ladybug!" Alya exclaimed, "I'm glad you're okay. I mean, when I didn't see you with the others, I thought-"

"Thanks for worrying, but I'm okay. And sorry for the whole showing thing; I didn't have any other way to contact you." She said, handing the box to Alya, "I won't bother with the introduction. But I will ask if you're ready."

She nodded, putting the Miraculous on and Trixx flying out, "You bet. Trixx, let's pounce!"

With Alya transforming into Rena Rouge, the two began running across the rooftops, seeing the trail of destruction that ArachQueen left in her wake. "Jeez, wonder what Spider-Man did to piss ArachQueen off so much."

"Knowing him, it was probably his grating voice. Come on, let's catch up!"

Present

Alya peeked around the corner to see ArachQueen recovering and started screaming things you'd never say around kids while destroying a city block. "Okay, real talk; why is she so hellbent on killing you?" She asked.

"Other than existing? Nothing." Even with the full-face mask, she could tell Spider-Man was being oddly casual about the situation. "But not worry, 'cause now that Puntos is here, I'm certain she'll find something in her multitool that'll help us win."

Puntos? Alya turned to Ladybug, who looked like she was moments away from clocking him in the nose. Instead, she sighed, "Give me a second."

What came out of her lucky charm was a paintbrush. "Okay, here's the plan," Ladybug started after looking around, "Rena, Spider-Man, you two distract ArachQueen long enough for me to put things together. Chat, you break open that fire hydrant and make the ground slippery but save your Cataclysm for later. Rena, when I give you the signal, you create an illusion of the pier looking like a normal street. Spider-Man, I-"

"Need me to pretend I got hit by ArachQueen and land on the red X you're going to draw on the pier. So, it'll be too slippery for her to clump up when she misses and falls into the water. Once that happens, Chat will be able to destroy her Miraculous. Did I get that right?"

Ladybug looked surprised at how Spider-Man pieced her plan together so quickly. It wasn't a surprise, though, since Alya gathered that the two have the same level of problem-solving. Honestly, it was a wonder the two don't work together more often.

But no. Instead, the universe thought it would be funny to make them sound like pitting screaming toddlers against each other.

"Huh. You know, I'm amazed you have a working brain inside that head of yours," Chat gave Ladybug a flat stare. She noticed this and sighed, "Right. Well, you guys know the plan."

"Yup! Operation 'live bait' is a go!" Spider-Man said, jumping to the side of the building, "You comin', Ms. Vixen?"

"Don't do that," Alya scoffed, jumping after him, "You know that's not my name. It's Rena Rouge," She flipped off a flagpole and, before ArachQueen noticed her, delivered a dropkick to the back of her head. It didn't do anything besides making her more enraged, though.

"Aw," Spider-Man then jumped and grabbed Alya by the wrist, pulling her towards him to avoid getting hit by ArachQueens' talon. Alya threw Spider-Man in a clockwise motion, kicking ArachQueen in the bottom of her chin making her stagger back. "But this would go so much more smoothly if we had nicknames for each other. You called me Spidey a few minutes ago."

"Because that's-" The two leaped onto a building, avoiding the acid spit. Where they were last standing, completely liquefying the sidewalk. "That's a shorter version of your name, so it makes sense. But Ms. Vixen doesn't." Alya argued, backflipping from ArachQueens' talon.

It was a pretty easy thing to do. The whole time, ArachQueen didn't even seem aware of what was happening around her. She stopped making threats and started screaming and hissing, acting more spider-like than human. HawkMoth seemed to be having trouble controlling her, as evidenced by his symbol flickering in and out of existence.

"Yeah, it does. Vixen means female fox." Spider-Man parkoured under, over, and around ArachQeens' attack like an inexperienced dancer. Granted, he doesn't get hit at all, but it still looked sloppy. He then used ArachQueens' face as a springboard and kicked himself off, causing her to stagger and landed next to Alya. "How does that not make sense?"

"Oh, so, the only two things you noticed about me is that I'm a female, and I'm wearing the fox Miraculous?"

The following words flew out of Spider-Mans' mouth in a stuttering panic, "Wh- uh- N-no! I mean, it's not the only thing I noticed! I- uh... I also noticed that you, like, technically have nine tails with the- the hair and..." He quieted down when he finally saw the barely suppressed smile on Alyas' face and let out a groan, "You're messing me, aren't you?"

Alya let out a few giggles as she nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, I am. Sorry."

He waved her off as they landed back on street level after ArachQueen took a swipe at them. This lasted for a few seconds before Alya heard a sharp whistle down the block, seeing Ladybug give her a thumbs-up.

Here we go.Alya played a few notes on her flute and jumped off ArachQueen. "Mirage!" She shouted, flinging the small bright ball of illusion onto the ground and acting like a flashbang. In a flash, the pier transformed into a deserted street while making it look like the real pier was a few miles out. ArachQueen screeched in a rage, having been blinded, and started to flail her talons around. Spider-Man then grabbed onto one of the talons and used the momentum to launch himself to where Chat Noir and Ladybug were hiding, landing directly on the freshly painted x.

Dude plays possum well.Alya thought.

ArachQueen stopped her blind rampage and was about to attack Alya again but stopped when she saw Spider-Mans' unmoving form. "Spiiiiider-Maaaan." She said, a wide unsettling grin sprouting on her face. HawkMoths' symbol appeared on her, but only for a moment she shook her furiously, screeched, and went barreling towards him.

She raised her talon upward but didn't get a chance to bring it down as the ground below her ceased to exist and crashed into the water. Spider-Man dodged just before ArachQueens' whole body was almost submerged in water, the illusion disappearing all the while. It was rather funny to see her try and get back to dry land but fail due to the slippery ground. Everything was going well.

Until it wasn't.

ArachQueen, in a last-ditch effort, shot a strand of webbing out of her human mouth and managed to snag Spider-Mans' ankle. Before anyone could cut him free, ArachQueen let herself sink, bringing Spider-Man along.

"sh*t!" Alya heard Ladybug exclaim, "Rena, get Spider-Man out while Chat and I deal with the Akuma!"

"Got it!" She used her flute as a mini rebreather and dove in after them.

After swimming for, what she could guess was three meters, Alya saw Spider-Man trying to escape while ArachQueen was trying to do everything in her power to keep him under. He got a few good hits in, but soon ArachQueens' hands found themselves around his throat, trying to squeeze the life out of him. Spider-Man tried to free himself, but she could see the strength leaving his body.

Alya, however, caught up in time, kneed her in the side of her face, and very harshly poked two out of the eight eyes she had, causing her to let go of her hold on Spider-Man.

That's payback for choking me earlier. Alya grabbed him before ArachQueen could recover but didn't see her come after them, given that Alya saw Ladybug and Chat Noir in their Aqua suits heading after ArachQueen.

Alya and Spider-Man made it to the surface, with the latter coughing up bits of water. The two took their time to catch their breath, with Alya asking, "You good?"

"I'll live," He let out something between a chuckle and a cough, "But, uh, I think that enough deep sea diving for today. Thanks, by the way, Foxtrot."

Alya nodded, "You're welcome." She paused, "Foxtrot?"

"Yeah. That's way better than Ms. Vixen. Don't you think?"

She shook her head in bewilderment, "You almost drowned. How are you still making jokes?"

Spider-Man just waved her off and stretched his arms, grabbing Ladybug's lucky charm, "I've gone through a bunch of near-death experiences in the past two months. At this point, I've learned to roll with it."

Alya blinked several times before groaning, "Why did you say that like it's a normal thing?"

"Comes with the territory," He glanced down the seine, asking, "Shouldn't we try and help them?"

"No, for three reasons;" She started to tick off her fingers, "One, you and I can't breathe underwater. Sure, I have a rebreather, but it's not as effective as an aqua suit. Two, my timer started," The Miraculous beeped as if on cue. Four minutes left. "so I can't make any more illusions. And three," Alya turned to him and smiled, "I trust them. And you can too."

Cutting Spider-Mans' following response off was Ladybug and Chat Noir coming out of the water with a deakumatied and a detransformed Wolf Spider. Alya noticed the lack of a choker around her neck but saw Ladybug hold the destroyed remains in her hand. Her black and purple blouse were soaked, along with her torn blue jeans and her dyed (at least, Alya thought it was dyed) white hair. She scowled at the cat-theme hero that had her hands behind her back in a vise grip, a scar running clean down her face. Then her eyes landed on Spider-Man, and she... well...

Exploded seemed to be the accurate word for it.

"YOU!" She screamed, attempting to escape from Chat Noir to try and probably claw Spider-Mans' eyes out. However, Chats' grip held, "I would've finished killing you if not for these three. You think you've won, pretender? HA! When I break free from my chains, I will come and find who you are, kill everyone who you love, and BATH IN YOUR BLOOD AS YOU BEG FOR-"

"Yeah, that's enough of that." Chat Noir took his staff and smacked her in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious. "Looks like we really unwound ArachQueens' web, huh?" He smirked.

That garnered three individual responses; Ladybug pinched the bridge of her nose, Alya rolled her eyes, and Spider-Man just sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "Dude," He said, "That was the most basic bitch spider pun I've ever heard."

"Oh, like you can do any-"

"Boys." Ladybug shut down their argument before it could start, "Save the pun wars till after I cleanse the area. Speaking of which, can I have my lucky charm back?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't lose a spot over it," Spider-Man tossed her the paintbrush, which she caught. "Wait, don't you have to get rid of the Akuma first?"

Ladybug nodded, "I already in that in the water. Miraculous Ladybug!" With that, the street and some of the buildings caught in ArachQueens' rampage were repaired. Ladybug held out her fist to her and Spider-Man, "Pound it?"

He glanced toward Alya, who simply smiled, then shrugged, "Aw, what the hell."

The four bumped fists, ending with Chat Noir saying, "I'ma take Wolf Spider to the police. I think since she's not from around here they'll-"

Sirens filled the air as four police cars, one on the left, one on the right, and two coming down the main road, came to a halt. Out of one of the police cars was Officer Roger, who, along with the other cops, pulled their guns and trained them on Spider-Man.

"SPIDER-MAN!" Roger shouted over his megaphone, "GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"

...What? Alya raised a brow, her confusion mirroring everyone elses'. Well, everyone except Spider-Man, who didn't seem all that surprised for some reason. "What is it with people today and shouting at me?" He muttered.

"Whoa, hold on!" Ladybug stepped in between his line of sight, "I know he's a little insufferable, but he didn't attack any hospital or teacher. The person who actually did do those things is unconscious right here." To reiterate her point, Chat Noir handed Wolf Spider over to one of the officers. "So, there's no need to arrest him."

Roger looked conflicted before resolving himself, "Regardless, we still need him to come with us to the station to answer some questions."

"Yeah, about that." The spider person of conversion said suddenly, "Me and police stations don't exactly mix well, so I'm just gonna go-"

"If you refuse, we have been authorized to use force if necessary." Roger co*cked back the hammer of his gun. "This is your last warning."

Before Ladybug could retort, Alyas' timer beeped, signifying that she was hitting her three-minute mark. "LB, we gotta go." She whispered.

Ladybug looked between her, Spider-Man, and the other officers and hesitated. It looked like nothing would change Rogers' mind about making the arrest.

Alya was confident that Ladybug or Chat Noir wouldn't let Spider-Man get arrested for something he was already proven innocent of. But she also knew that they wouldn't get into a fight with law enforcement without dealing with the repercussions. So, at the moment, they were-

"Hey, uh, Rog? Quick question," Spider-Man said, "Doesn't the person you need to arrest need to be... y'know, visible and present?" With that, Spider-Man vanished followed by a thump on the hood of Rogers' police cruiser and a soft fwip sound.

Oh my god, I completely forgot he could do that.Alya resisted the urge to facepalm as she and Ladybug went to a more secluded location. The two landed in an alley three blocks from the pier. "Well... that was a thing. Trixx, let's rest!" She commented.

"Yeah. I know Roger's doing his job, but he could at least think before trying to arrest innocent people." Ladybug muttered the last part to herself, "Hey, I just want to say I'm really sorry you had to see me and the Webhead fight with each other like that."

"Naw, it's cool, don't worry about it," Alya waved her off, heading her the Miraculous back. "I'm just surprised if anything. Like, why don't you two get along?"

Ladybug hesitated before sighing, "It's sort of... personal," Her timer beeped, "I don't have the time to get into it. I gotta go."

"Ladybug, wait," Ladybug stopped and turned to Alya. Who paused, trying to find the right words, "You're under no obligation to tell me why, but maybe you guys can come to some sort of an agreement? It's obvious you both want the same thing; to help people and stop HawkMoth. So, maybe you two just need to trust each other."

Silence filled the alleyway after Alyas' little rant. The same silence lingered, and Alya feared she might have stepped on a line mine, "I-I'm not saying that you guys need to trust each other outright or anything. You can trust him at your own pace or... uh, something. Look, I just mean-"

A small chuckle cut her off, "It's okay, Alya. I get what you're saying. And I'll take what you said into consideration." With that, Ladybug swung away, leaving Alya alone, who felt pleased with herself after today.

Later that night, on the rooftop of Église Saint-Séverin

Miles cringed slightly as the church bell rang loudly, signifying the coming of midnight. He looked over at Paris on the top of his perch, recalling all the new information he had gotten in the past few hours.

Apparently, what he got from Ladybug was that Wolf Spider was some serial killer who came from New York to kill him and that HawkMoth was willing to work with anyone as long as he got what he wanted.

Basic megalomaniac behavior.

After her Akumation, Miles also learned from Marinette, who learned from Max, that Ms. Bustier left the hospital early due to the Ladybugs' miracle cure and was coming back to teach on Thursday.

Truly, Miraculous Ladybug is such a convenient thing. Miles thought bitterly. But he put those thoughts aside for now.

The first and most interesting piece of information he got was from the session with Wolf Spiders' kwami. However, meeting Vii, Wolf Spiders' ex-kwami, for the first time made Miles' spider-sense hum.

Not buzz. Hum.

That made Miles freak out a little because it would only do that around another spider person. Not a mini divine being made out of a concept. Vii seemed to have a version of a spider sense because she commuted about Miles being one of their relatives' children.

Which confused both him and Fu, but not enough to lose track of the conversion.

The second thing they learned was how Wolf Spider became who she was today. Not her name, though; apparently, some magic spell prevented the kwamis from revealing their holders' identities. What Miles and Fu did learn, however, was that Wolf Spider was a demolition worker that got into an accident.

According to Vii, Wolf Spider found the lost Miraculous in a hole in the building wall she broke open while working. But the wall she broke open was connected to a loose piece of the ceiling that fell and put her in a month-long coma. And immediately, without hearing the rest of the story, Miles was able to connect the dots.

Head injury plus finding out magic exists equals killing people in the name of some imaginary goddess.He thought,At least she's just an average human under all that magic.

Now he was thinking back to his little talk with Rena Rouge and figuring out what to do next if he saw Ladybug again. Sure, he could take Renas' advice and trust Lugares, but unless she was going to apologize for trying to command him like a dill sergeant, Miles was content with them being at odds.

Yes, Miles knew he was being petty. No, he did not care.

Maybe I'm worried about nothing. He fell backward on his perch, stargazing to pass the time. "Maybe I won't even see her tonight at all. Or any night, for that matter."

Even without his spider-sense, Miles immediately knew he had jinxed himself as he heard a familiar nagging voice saying, "I didn't want to see you either, but tonight's full of disappointments."

Miles stood up to see Ladybug who glared at him with her arms crossed. She looked... almost hurt for some reason. It probably had nothing to do with him, surely.

Miles put a hand over his chest in fake hurt, "Truly; your words cut deeper than any knife ever could, Puntos," He jumped down, noticing that Chat Noir wasn't with her, "What? No support animal tonight?"

"If by support animal, you mean Chat Noir, he tends to run a little late. It happens," Ladybug pretended to check her nails even though she couldn't see them under her suit. "Why? Afraid this ladybug might bite if you get too close? We are classified as predators, you know." She smirked.

"Yeah, so are spiders." Miles snarked, "Although, if Chat ain't here, that means your multitools' becoming defective."

She quirked a brow, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying that you have a need to wrap your yo-yo around us every chance you get," He shrugged, ignoring the look she was giving him, "Chat must've seen some sense and headed for the hills. If you want dating tips, I'll gladly give you some."

Ladybug laughed humorlessly, "One; if I wanted dating tips, you'd be the last person I'd go to." Miles allowed that personal jab to hurt a little. "Two; Chat Noir and I are partners. I don't see him that way. And three, I'm already in love with someone else."

"...You are?" Miles said, letting a bit of disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah. I am." She snapped.

"Wow. I'm so sorry."

Ladybug did a doubletake, clearly not exacting him to apologize. "I... appreciate your apology. Next time you shouldn't talk about a girl's love life-"

Miles cut her off, "No, what I mean is I'm so sorry that the person you're pinning for caught your attention." He let out all the smugness in his voice leak out, "You do tend to nag a lot. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone."

That was it.

That last straw broke the camel's back as Ladybug trotted forward with a heated glare until the two were face to face. The sudden action surprised Miles causing him to lean back a little.

He also noticed that she was slightly shorter than him. Not by a lot, but enough to still make her look intimidating. "You know, I could've sworn you had a brain inside that head of yours. That way, you'd remember your mother teaching you not to insult a lady, Spider-Prick."

Oh, diablos no.Insulting him was one thing. His mom was a whole other story. Miles lean forward to match her glare, "What she won't know won't hurt her. And how about we keep our parents out of this, kay, Nagbug?"

The tense, angry silence continued as neither one was backing down to the other, so they continued to glare at each other. Before Ladybug or Miles could haul another insult at the other, his spider-sense buzzed before something whizzed past between their heads, embedding itself into the wall.

It was a baton.

Chat Noirs' baton.

The two turned to see him just standing a few feet from them, arms crossed with an unimpressed look on his face.

Weird. Why does he look pissed? "Hey, Chat. You uh..." Miles jabbed his thumb to Chats’ baton, "You dropped something."

He continued to glare, making Miles a little nervous. It reminded Miles way too much of his mom's glares every time Miles or his little sister Billie did something they weren’t supposed to.

"Uh, Chat..." Looking out of her depth for the first time, Ladybug spoke up, "Are you alright?"

"No." His response was immediate, which startled both Miles and Ladybug. "I’m not 'alright.' I’m actually mad."

He stomped toward the two, ripped his baton out of the wall, and turned to Miles first, "Spider-Man, I don't know why Ladybug hates you so much but did you ever stop to consider that maybe, just maybe, insulting her love life isn’t the way to make like you."

Miles noticed that Ladybug was sticking her tongue out at him. "But she-"

"I’m NOT done!" Chat spun around to Ladybug, "How long have we been partners?"

She didn't expect that as she started to stumble on her words. "I- uh... A-almost nine months-?"

"Almost nine freakin' months! We've been partners for that long, and I've NEVER seen you act like this." Miles put an L-shaped on his forehead and did a little jig. He stopped when Chat Noir turned to glare at him. "You-- both of you-- are acting so childish. And, sure, it was hilarious the first time, funny the second time, less funny the third time, annoying the fourth time, and now I'm just fed up.

"I mean, come on! I get not liking someone, but why is so much animosity between you two? Especially if the reason for the animosity is so stupid."

Stupid?!Miles and Ladybug started to talk at the same time, "Hey, she's the one who-" "It's his fault for-"

Chat, however, shouted over the two to shut them up, "I! DO NOT! CARE! But if there's a reason to make me care, then let's hear it! The both of you!"

To that, Miles suddenly grew uncomfortable as he decided to look anywhere that wasn't Chat Noirs' face. What surprised him was that Ladybug didn't say anything either, which was weird because she wouldn't pass up an opportunity to try and dis him.

"Wow. Great." Chat snapped, "So, from what I can gather, there are possibly two reasons why you two are so quiet; either you both know that your reasons are dumb, OR you guys are under some notion that your pride is more important than everyone else."

The screeching of tires and sirens filled the air before Chat could say anything else, promptly giving Miles and Ladybug an out. "Oh, look, crime. We better cut this so we can stop it."

"He's right," Ladybug hurrying nodded, "We can all come back to this later after-"

"I will go and deal with this... solo," Chat interrupted, "The two of you are going to stay on this rooftop until you work out your feelings with one another."

"Or what?" Ladybug snapped back.

He turned to glare at her, "Or I will go to the nice old man in a Hawaiian shirt and tell him what's going on and how you've been acting."

And that sentence alone shut her and Miles right up. They both seemed to understand the universal concept of trying not to invoke the wrath of their elders. He'd never seen Fu mad before, but if he was anything like his grandma then he was in for a world of hurt.

Chat sighed, "Look, just... work things out. Please?" He hopped off the roof, leaving Miles and Ladybug with an uneasy silence, watching him go.

"Hey," Miles started, "Has he ever acted like that before?"

Ladybug didn't give an audible response and just shook her head.

After that, seeing no other choice, one waited for the other to start. But no one said anything.

This went on for seconds that felt like hours until Miles mentally sighed, deciding to be the bigger man, and turned to Ladybug.

"I'm sorry-" He stopped when he and Ladybug said the same thing simultaneously. "Sorry, you go first."

"No, it's fine. You go." Her cheeks turned slightly flushed.

"Nah, you. Ladies first and all that."

She narrowed her eyes at him before caving in and sighing. "Fine. I'm... sorry for ordering you around, insulting your intelligence, and thinking you can't give decent love advice. And for calling you a prick."

Beneath his mask, Miles gave a small smile. "Apology accepted. And I'm sorry for thinking the guy you're in love with wouldn't want to go out with you because you nag a lot and for driving you up a wall." He held his hand out for a handshake to her, "Friends?"

Ladybug stared at his hand and was going to reciprocate it, "Apology accepted," She shook her head and turned away. "But no." She said.

"No?" He said, surprised. "Was there something else I was supposed to apologize for?"

"What? No. It's just that..." She sighed, "Chat Noir's right; we need to work this out."

"And what does that mean?" Miles asked, clearly confused.

Ladybug turned back to him, looking resolved, "It means we're going to play a little game. We'll tell each other why we have problems with each other."

For some reason, Miles started to panic internally. "Can't we, y'know, take the apologies and be done with it?"

"We could, sure," She began pacing back and forth, "But then this tension between us won't go away if we don't address it." She stopped and turned to him, saying, "So, you first."

"What?!" He exclaimed, "Why do I have to go first? It was your idea."

"I know. But I'm sort of self-conscious about my reason," A trace of pink appeared on Ladybug's face before she pointed a finger at Miles, "Plus, I apologized first, so it's only fair."

He grumbled angrily but didn't say anything to rebuke that. He just nodded and sighed, "Fine."

For the moment, Miles had a hard time finding the right words to start with. So his mouth moved before his mind could catch up, and he blurted out, "It's you."

Ladybug blinked and crossed her arms, her face and tone came off between flabbergasted and offended, "Excuse me?"

"That came out wrong. Uh-" He stammered, taking a breath and sitting down on the ledge before speaking again, "...It's your powers."

She sat down with him, her brow furrowed in confusion, "My lucky charm? Why would you-"

He shook his head, "It's not that. It's-" Miles hesitated, a feeling of bitterness rising in his chest, "It's your Miracle cure." He muttered.

"My cure?" He nodded, "What about it?"

He doesn't answer, turning his back to her and letting the silence linger. Along with the bitterness, grief reared its ugly head. "Where I come from, we don't have Miracle cures. When a fight breaks out, the damage takes time to repair, and if someone dies in the crossfire, there's no bringing them back. Ever. Sure, I can stop that from happening, but sometimes I don't get there in time."

Ever since landing on this earth, Miles had to come to grips with the fact that magic exists and that there were types that could heal everyone and everything. Maybe the same thing existed on his earth; he just wasn't looking hard enough. And the whole time, his mind drifted to his uncle. He had power but was so powerless to prevent the situation. If Miles had Ladybugs' powers that day instead, would anything change? Would he have saved Uncle Aaron and his world's Peter Parker?

Would it even matter?

He came face to face with Ladybug, her expression looking pityingly and slightly guilty. "So when I see you shout a few magic words, and everything goes back to how it was, it seems almost unfair. That's why I have a problem with you; because you make failing to save someone seem almost impossible."

After his rant, Miles clears his throat to keep his voice from wavering, "Anyway, I shared. It's your turn now."

Ladybug opened her mouth a few times before closing it. "Look, I'ma be honest; after that, my reason seems kinda stupid now," She said.

"If it is, I'm not gonna care." Miles shrugged, "Besides, it wouldn't be fair if I went and you didn't, right?"

"Right." She sighed and nodded, "Rember when we stopped that jewelry store robbery?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, afterward, you said something that bugged me." Ladybug fingers drummed along the ledge, "You said that you're a lone wolf kind of guy. You have to understand that I'm used to working with others than by myself. So, when you said that, my immediate thought wasn't, 'does he think he's better than us?' It was 'that's such a lonely way to go about things.' I'm not saying you're doing a bad job or it's wrong; I just think that the three of us can work better together as a team."

"There's a reason for that," Miles said, "I have a certain... power set that works better if I'm by myself."

Gwen and the other spider were a different story. They all had spider-senses to help. Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't, and he was worried. But judging from what Chat said, they've been working together for almost nine months. So, now he felt stupid. "I'm trying to say that it's better if I'm working alone."

"And I'm trying to say that you don't have to do that all the time." Her voice grew in volume but not in anger as she got up, forcing Miles to look up at her. "I don't know how you operated back in your hometown, but now you don't have to do that here. Now you have Chat Noir and me helping you. And we have you helping us."

He didn't have anything to counter that. She raised some good points that Miles couldn't ignore but was still iffy about being on a team.

Ladybug held her hand out to him, "So, what do you say, Webhead, partners?"

Miles stared at the hand, remembering his talk with Rena Rouge.

'I trust them. And you can too.'

Well, in for a penny...Miles grasped her hand, and she pulled him. "Friends."

For the first time since he landed on her earth, Ladybug smiled at him. Like she was glad they weren't at each other's throats. If Miles was being honest, so was he.

And he would never admit this to anyone or himself, but when Ladybug smiled, she looked beautiful.

No, stop it, brain, I am not falling for her. I'm just making an astute observation.

"Oh, by the way," Ladybug cleared her throat, "Sorry about my powers. But you need to understand that-"

"They're needed. Don't worry; I get it." He said.

She nodded, "Speaking of powers, you never explained yours. What are they?"

"I knew you were gonna ask that." Miles groaned.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Nah. It's all good." He sighed, listing them off with his fingers, "You already know I'm strong, fast, I can stick to walls, and I can go invisible. I can also do this thing called venom blast. Or strike if you wanna get technical." To demonstrate, Miles charged some venom into his index and middle fingers giving off a blue glow.

"Wow." Ladybug muttered, "Is this the stuff you zapped me with in the stadium?"

"Yep," Miles said. "I also have this thing called spider-sense, but that's not-"

"Spider-sense? What's that do?" She asked.

"Hm? Oh, it's just my early warning system." He said, shaking the venom off.

Miles didn't notice Ladybug giving him a confused face. "What?" She asked.

"Yeah. It warns me when someone's going to attack me so I can move out of the way." He heard her snort, seeing a hand over her mouth. "What?" He asked.

Ladybug shook her head, a few giggles escaping from her lips, "N-nothing. I find it funny that the guy I had problems with is using cheat codes to get by." She laughed.

"Wh- I'm not cheating! It's one of my powers!"

"This whole time, I thought you were some professional gymnast who knew what he was doing. When really, you were just cheating." She fell on one knee as she clenched her sides and laughed harder than he'd seen her. "I-I can't breath."

"I do what I'm going! Half the time..." Miles muttered that last part. Ladybug gave a stare that screamed, 'really?' and he buckled under the pressure. "Can we go back to hating each other, please?"

That made her laugh even harder, falling on her back. She calmed down afterward, "Sorry. And thanks, I needed that."

Despite himself, Miles smiled, helping her up, "I'm glad to see you find my cheat codes so amus-."

His spider-sense went off, and not even a second later, an explosion went off in the distance, followed by a mass of...

Are... those pigeons? Miles watched as a literal flock of pigeons started to lift up an entire bookstore.

"LADYBUG! CHAT NOIR! GIVE UP YOUR MIRACULOUS OR ME AND MY BEAUTIES MAKE THESE CENTURY-OLD BOOKS PLUMMET TO THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER!" The man in the pink, grey, and black suit shouted, mimicking pigeon noises.

Miles turned to Ladybug, whose face went from entertained to exhausted, and asked, "What the hell is that?" In the most confused tone he could muster.

She sighed, "That would be Mr. Pigeon. His actual name is Xavier Ramier. I can't believe he got akumatized again."

Miles did a doubletake, "What do you mean again? How many times has this guy been akumatized?"

She rubbed the back of her neck, thinking to herself, "Either fourteen or fifteen times."

"Fifteen?!"

"Or fourteen!"

In the distance, they caught Chat Noir jumping into the fray.This is either gonna be quick or it's gonna suck."Well, come on Puntos. Let's go help the stray." Miles teased.

Ladybug smirked, "Let's. Just try and keep up Webhead."

With that, Spider-Man and Ladybug, after some misunderstandings and accusations, raced to see who could get to the Akuma the fastest.

If one or the other lost, they didn't mind or care.

Chapter 13: Issue 12 (Tug on The Leash)

Chapter Text

Thursday, April 18

The drive to the Agreste mansion

Up, down.

Up, down.

Up, down.

That was the motion Adrien's leg was making on his way to his house with Miles in tow, who looked like he was currently strolling through his phone looking at the Ladyblog. Adrien was looking out the window, watching people zoom by, like watching through a smudge camera lens. He wore a red button-down flannel, a mustard yellow t-shirt underneath, and torn-up jeans.

After the school day ended, the two agreed that now would be a good time to ask his father about Adrien tutoring him.

It was just a tutoring session—nothing to freak out about.

So why were his nerves shot to hell?

He heard a snort of laughter from beside him, "Dude, don't look so nervous," Miles said, wearing a magenta mock-neck pullover with a zipper and black trousers, "Making me think I'm gonna get executed or something."

With the way my father acts, you might as well be. Adrien thought dryly. When he first asked his father about helping a new student at his school with some French, Adrien expected him to blow him off and tell him to 'not concern himself with other people's trivial matters and focus on modeling' like he always does. What caught him off guard was when he agreed to an interview.

So, while Adrien was thankful that his father was being more flexible with his offer, it did cause some unnecessary anxiety on his part.

But, instead, he let out an awkward chuckle, "Sorry. It's just that my father can be very... difficult at times."

Miles patted him on the shoulder, "I think I can manage. Don't worry so much."

Adrien didn't feel the same way but nodded regardless. An awkward silence fell on the pair, unsure what to say next. Then Adrien found something they could discuss, "So, apart from your parents, do you have any siblings?" He asked.

Miles perked up at that, a warm smile spread across his face, "Yeah. I have a little sister named Billie, and she's turning five in a few months."

"Is she in Paris?" He asked.

Miles looked panicked for a second before answering, "N-Nah. She's still in New York. My transfer was sudden, and we didn't have enough money for all of us to go."

"That makes sense." Adrien nodded, "Prices nowadays are no joke."

"You're telling me," Miles said, "I never got to ask, what's your home life like? It's got to be more interesting than mine."

Adrien shook his head, his smile falling, "No, compared to everyone else in the class, my afterschool life is pretty dull."

"Really? Huh, that's surprising." He muttered, "Hey, I know your dad's some big-shot fashion designer, but I never hear you talk about your mom much. What does she do?"

He froze as grief squeezed his heart. He knew Miles didn't have any ill will and was asking what seemed to be an innocent question. It didn't mean it made the hurt wasn't any less painful.

Squeezing his knees and keeping his head down, Adrien replayed in a quiet voice. "My Mother, she is... was an actress. She died before we could see the movie she starred in together."

He couldn't see Miles's face, but he heard him let out a quiet 'oh.'

The car stopped at a red light, his house was viable in the distance, and the rest of the car ride was silent. Or it was, up until Miles started speaking again. "I, uh... I lost my uncle two months ago. So, I get what you're going through. Sorry if that sounds cliché."

Adrien looked at him in surprise; out of everything to say, he wasn't expecting him to say that. However, Adrien noticed, even if it was for a moment, that Miles had a similar look when he heard that his mother was gone.

Sorrow and heartache.

"It's alright." He muttered, his voice remaining quiet. "And I'm sorry for your loss. How'd he die?"

"Thanks." The light turned from red to green. Miles took a second before sighing. "Car accident. Yours?"

▊̸͚̽́́͌̿̓͊̓͗͠▊̵̢̢̢̖͕̩̠̟̒̄̎͌̐̿́̕▊̶̠̜͚͓̰̮̈́͑͒̀͗̆̒̔̀̕▊̵̡̢͈̫̺͓̟̬̹͓̯͑͠▊̷͍̫̼͚̘̠̽͒̾̌̇̍ ̶͖̰̝̪̑̔̉̾͘͝█̶̧̪͇͕̙͔͔̯͇̱̪́̓̎͂̈́̌͂̉͛̚͠▌̴͖̂͛̍̋̉̇͘▉̵̡̠̞̱̲̖͓͓̤̺͌̅̓̕▇̷̟̼̩͉͎̓̂̀̑̍̍̈͗͌̅͝ ̷̱̩͇̬̫̞̟̟̥̯͌̐̈́͛͜▂̴̧̤̭̯̪̩̆̍͗̈̓͜͠͠▃̸̧̧̡̗̰̞̥͎̟̝̃̇̒͗▄̶̧͈̳̤̱̯̤͊͗͑͘̕ͅ ̷̡̮̠͕̦̔͒̄͐̏▋̴̖̖̤̗̰̱̬͌͗̃͂ͅ▄̵̣̯͍̦͎̣̲̝͊͆̈́͐͗̏͂͆̀́▅̵̺̫̗̖͔̗̟͊̆̑▅̸̧̪̝͍͉̋͂̾ͅ ̷̨̲͓̫̀́͊̋̿̓͊ɟ̸̛͇̤̹̗͖̪̜̣̃̿̑͝ͅɘ̵̤̓̐̐͛̈̔̓̋̈͝ϱ̵̨̮̅̆̎͠ɿ̸̹̇̿̏̓̆̄͝ö̶̲̬͖̹̻́̅̋̒̈́̉̃́͘͜ʇ̷̢̢̛̰̹͓̻̱͜ͅ ̸̫̯̘̙͙̮͉̈́̆̂̈́͝,̷̡̞̱̤͉̠̱̬̯͖̽̊̑̊̎́ͅ▂̵̛̠̪̫͌̎̂̈́̆̍̈́̾̉▃̵̠̣͎̖̞̎̒̐͌͆͛̀͑͘▃̸̮̙̘̱̻̰͕̝́͆̌̌̏̉͂͘̕͜▄̶̡̑̆͗̃͂̀ͅ▅̷̨͔͕̯̻̄̋͊͒̎͝▊̸̭̱̞̻̖͉̀̈ͅͅ

"...I don't remember." He said. "It was so long ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss too."

"Thanks." The vehicle turned into the gate, slowing to a stop.

They both left the limousine, Nathalie waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "Mr. Morales, Good afternoon. I'm Nathalie Sancoeur, Gabriel Agreste's assistant," She said in perfect English, "He's currently busy, so you two will have to wait in the dining hall in the meantime. Adrien, please show him the way and wait with him."

He nodded, "Sure. Come on, Miles." The two made their way inside, with Nathalie and Gorilla following behind.

"Yo..." Miles let out, "You live here?! It's as big as a freaking castle."

Adrien couldn't help but smirk. "Wait till you see the dining room." He pushed open the large black and silver striped doors, where he saw Miles gawking.

"Why in the world are there so many seats?" He asked, having a hard time finding the right seat. "All you need is four or five. This is just excessive."

"My father always wants the biggest and the best." Adrien shrugged, turning to Nathalie, "Do you know when father-"

She cut him off, "He'll be out in thirty minutes. Twenty at best. In the meantime, entertain yourselves with some card games while you wait." And just like that, she left, hearing the click of her heels fade and leaving Adrien with an uncomfortable feeling in his gut as he unconsciously dug his fingernails into his arm.

He should have expected this. His father was a busy person, after all. So he couldn't always make time. Maybe he could have-

"-en. Adrien. Hey, man, you good?"

Adrien blinked, realizing he's been standing in place for a while. "Uh, sorry, what?" He asked, turning to the other person in the room.

Miles had a confused (and concerned?) look on his face. "I asked if you knew where the card games she talked about were. They aren't over here." He motioned to the table next to the fireplace, then to his arm, "Also, you're, uh... you're bleeding."

Adrien looked down to where he pointed, and sure enough, bits of blood began to leak out his arm where his nails were. He had forgotten that they were sharper than usual for some reason.

He laughed, covering his arm, "Oh, this? I-It's nothing. I'ma go and get those cards. Wait here." Without hearing his reply, Adrien left.

As he went upstairs, waving to Gorilla, Plaggs' head popped out of his flannel pocket. "Sheesh. That lady's becoming more and more like a robot every time I see her." He whispered.

"That's mean, Plagg." Adrien chastised, closing the door behind them.

"Am I wrong?"

He decided not to grace that with an answer.

Instead, he went to the bathroom and appalled first aid on his arm. After that, he went up to the second floor of his bedroom and started rummaging through his shelf of console games but didn't find what he was looking for. Where the hell is it?

Before Adrien could search again, his phone buzzed. It was the group chat for all the guys in class. Sans Miles, of course.

The Bros. (Adrien, Ivan, Max, Nathaniel, Nino, Kim)

DJ City:soooooooooo how'd it go?

DJ City:is the new guy still alive?

wouldn't you like to know pool boy: yeah adrien

wouldn't you like to know pool boy: max owes me fifteen euros if your dad causes another akumatization in the next twenty minutes. come on give us the deets

Fun fact; That is false:Ten minutes would be the appropriate amount of time for Gabriel Agreste to berate Miles.

aagreste: you guys really shouldn't be placing bets on people getting akumatized.

aagreste:a complicated one??

Ink & Splashes: a bad one.

wouldn't you like to know pool boy:

DJ City:guys guys! we all agree that adriens dad is a huge buzzkill but he wouldn't go out of his way to harm people

aagreste:nino how much did you bet on my father?

aagreste:

aagreste: nathaniel how much did nino bet on my father?

aagreste:really nino?

Fun fact; That is false: But did you all hear that Ms. Bustier's coming back on Monday?

aagreste:really??!

Ink & Splashes:that's good to hear.

wouldn't you like to know pool boy:yeh

Dj City: at least theres one piece of good news today

Rock Solid:wait max how do you know that?

Fun fact; That is false:Markov overheard some of the teachers and the principal talking.

Fun fact; That is false:Apparently, after Ladybug, Chat Noir, Spider-Man, and Rena Rouge defeated ArchQueen, the Miracle cure sped up Ms. Bustier's recovery to a point where she could walk around the hospital.

Fun fact; That is false: They're still getting rid of any residual poison that may still be in her body, but they said she'd be fine.

wouldn't you like to know pool boy:speakin' of archqueen

wouldn't you like to know pool boy:whatever happened to her?

Fun fact; That is false:Give Markov and me a minute to find out.

Fun fact; That is false: According to recent news reports, ArchQueen, AKA Wolf Spider, AKA Cassandra Webb, was arrested yesterday for sixteen counts of murders in the past three months.

Dj City:whoa

wouldn't you like to know pool boy:christ

aagreste:i know she wasn't right in the head

aagreste:but all those people...

Rock Solid:yeah.

Ink & Splashes:and our teacher would have been victim #17.

Fun fact; That is false:The most messed up part people are considering, however, is that she admitted to all of it.

Rock Solid:i don't get how a person can do all that and try to justify it

Fun fact; That is false:Is there anyone here who can not go?

Dj City:nah im free.

Rock Solid: mylène moved our date to tomorrow instead of today. so im free too!

Fun fact; That is false:Why did everybody go quiet?

Rock Solid:bye.

wouldn't you like to know pool boy:see ya!!

Fun fact; That is false: Why is no one agreeing with me?

Adrien chuckled a bit as he saw the last message. Even with his friends being up something gruesome and them ripping into his father (which, if he was honest, was somewhat warranted), Adrien felt happy that his friends cared so much.

Plus, Ms. Bustier's coming back. So that's a bonus.

After five minutes of searching and ignoring the group chat messages, Adrien gave up and returned to the first floor. "Hey, Plagg, you wouldn't know where the cards are, would you?"

He wasn't expecting any answer from the kwami, who was currently munching on a piece of camembert on his desktop.

So it surprised him when he did. "Yeah, I've been using them."

Adrien stopped, began tapping the sofa ledge, and allowed his brain to process the new information. "What do you mean you've been using them?"

"Well, I needed something to sit on while relaxing." He belched, flying into the cabinet under his trophy case. Adrien opened it and was hit with a putrid odor causing him to cough a few times. Bright side, he found the cards he was looking for, some of them being used like a lounge chair, along with Plagg, who was in the middle of eating and using one of Adrien's headphones as speakers, his old phone as a tv, and sitting next to a large amount of camembert. "You need to invest in some miniature furniture, kid. I might be as old as the universe, but even my bones need rest."

"I thought kwamis didn't have any bones."

"We don't. But it's the thought that counts."

Despite the joke Plagg was making, Adrien didn't find the situation funny.

He took a sharp inhale, trying to calm himself down. "Plagg. You do understand that I need those cards, right?"

"No, no, kid. You don't 'need' them," He said. "You 'want' them. It's a common mistake."

Ah, yes. Plagg certainly had a point. It was challenging to distinguish wants and needs from each other occasionally.

Good thing Plagg was there to remind him.

But the same went for Plagg. It's not like the kwami needed all that camembert; he just wanted it. So, surely, Adrien wouldn't be blamed if he threw the cheese away while Plagg tried to stop him.

Good thing Adrien was there to remind the kwami.

"Why?!" Plagg hissed, "Why would you do that? I needed that cheese."

"No, no, Plagg," Adrien started to mock Plagg in a smug voice, "You don't 'need' them. You 'want' them. It's a common mistake."

He took the time to grab the cards and dust the crumbs off while Plagg glared at him. "If not for the rules we kwamis have to live by, I would've cursed you with ten years of bad luck."

"Go complain to management then. Come on." Adrien opened his flannel pocket a little for Plagg to get in. Once he was in, Adrien made a pit stop in the kitchen and grabbed two apples. He then returned to the dining room, and while peeking inside the door cracks, he found Miles playing on his phone, his back turned, unaware he had made it back.

Feeling a bit of Chat Noirs' mischievous leak through, Adrien decided to sneak up behind and scare him. He made sure his footsteps were quiet, tiptoeing ever so slightly. He was right on top of him, almost about to-

"Don't even think about it." Miles suddenly said without even turning around, causing Adrien to freeze. "My sister does the same sh*t. Doesn't work for her, either."

Adrien sagged and slumped back into his seat, handing over the cards and apple. "How'd you know I was even there?"

"I know these types of things." Miles tucked his phone back in his pocket and moved the game of chess that father didn't finish to the dining table. "What took you so long anyway?"

Adrien huffed a laugh, taking a bite of his apple. "I thought you said you knew these types of things?"

"Only the important bits. Like Akumas and such," Miles started shuffling the deck, "So, what are we playing?"

Adrien thought for a moment before deciding, "How about War?"

"I don't even know what that is. What are the rules?" Miles asked.

"Okay. So," Adrien took the cards from Miles and started dealing them out, "Both of us would have half of the deck, and we would flip the top card face up in front of ourselves. If we both have a higher-ranking card, we collect both cards and put them in a pile while facing down. Ace is the highest, and two is the lowest. If you run out of cards in your current deck, shuffle and use the cards you put to the side. If we both put down the same card, we place three cards face down, staggered on top of the face-up card, then flip one new card face-up. The player with the highest rank wins all the cards. It's called a War, and we do the same thing again if it happens twice. Any questions?"

"Yeah. How do you win?" Miles had a lively and determined look in his eyes that mirrored Adrien's, his cards obscuring the rest of his face.

"Simple," Adrien slowly got the card out of his deck. "Get all the cards to win."

The two simultaneously slapped their cards down.

Ace of Spades.

Three of Diamonds.

"BOOYAH! First try!" Miles exclaimed.

"Beginners luck," Adrien muttered.

Miles scooped up the cards and blew air between his teeth, "Whatever floats your boat, chico modelo." He smirked, "Also, I saw you were in some fascinating Ads."

Adrien froze, breaking into a sweat.Please, no.He swallowed, "What-uh... what Ads are you talking about?" Even though he probably knew which one he was talking about.

Miles took a thinker pose before trying -and failing- to mimic a commercial lady's voice, "Radiant... carefree... dreamy. Adrien, the fragrance."

And just like that, Adrien felt his pride die a little on the inside. "Please wipe that commercial from your memory. And wipe that grin off your face."

Miles laughed, "I'm actually grateful. You tricked me into thinking you were so cool, but that ad revealed the truth."

"Just shut up and play the game."

Despite his words, a small smile settled on his face.

And so, the two continued their game in friendly banter; five minutes had passed. Adrien stopped mid-motion from taking out a card as he saw the door open (although Miles stopped a second before he did), Nathalie and his father stepping in with Gorilla standing near the door.

"You must be Miles Morales," His father outstretched his hand to Miles, "My name is Gabriel Agreste. A pleasure."

He stared at the hand briefly before shaking it, "L-likewise. Adrien had a lot to say about you; all good things, though." Miles joked.

If his expression changed due to that comment, his father didn't show it. Adrien visibly cringed as his father stated coldly, "Take a seat." With him going to sit at the far end of the dinner table.

Not a great start. Adrien thought as Miles gave him a confused expression which he shrugged off and let Nathalie lead the two to the other end of the table.

"So then," His father started, "Mr. Morales-"

"Uh, just Miles, sir. 'Mr. Morales' is my dad." Miles said, cutting his father off. Miles began muttering to himself, and (un)luckily for Adrien, he could hear him, "No, wait. My dad's last name is Davis. So he would be Mr. Davis. My mom is... yeah." He began addressing his father again and why is he still talking??, "My mom is Mrs. Morales. But since I'm her son, I'm still Mr. Morales, just not yet."

The silence that fell onto the room was so dense that you could cut with a butter knife, and Adrien had to use all his willpower to keep himself from gripping his head in desperation because he could already see this was going south. Fast.

"Well, Miles," His father said, "My son tells me that you wished for him to be your tutor in French."

Adrien blinked. That's not right. He distinctly remembered telling his father that Adrien had offered to tutor. Not Miles.Why is he saying that? "Um, father, actually-"

His father raised a hand to silence him, and whatever rebuke Adrien had died on his tongue.

"Less wish for; more took up on an offer," Miles stated. "Adrien's the one who asked me, and I-"

"Regardless of how the conversion went, you're here now, and you're expecting an answer," The atmosphere grew tenser as his father interrupted him. He saw Miles's confusion increase out of the corner of his eye. "And I'm afraid the answer is no."

"Father, why-"

"You don't need to know the reason, Adrien." He said.

"Can I know then?" Miles asked, sounding a little heated, "I'm the guest here, aren't I? So, I think I'm at least owed an explanation."

Adrien's father's glared at him, "I don't, nor does anyone else here, owe you a thing. But if you want a reason, it is because we are not running a charity case, nor are we in the mood of helping lost causes whose parents let their child come to another county ill-prepared."

Loss cause?!It wasn't even directed toward him, and even Adrien was offended. And judging from his expression, so was Miles. "That was uncalled for! Father-"

"If that's all, my assistant or son can escort you out." His father got up and straightened out his ascot, "Adrien, we'll be reviewing your piano lessons shortly. After you see your friend out, I want you to stay in your room for the time being." He went over and placed a hand on Adrien's shoulder, "Understand?"

The outrage Adrien felt in his stomach on behalf of his friend shriveled up, unable to actually say anything back. It didn't matter how rude he was being; he was still his father.

Nothing would change that.

With a defeated voice, he replied, "Yes, fath-"

A familiar voice rang out, "Damn, Adrien, I'm kinda getting why you couldn't outright say your old man's a galactic prick."

Time seemingly stopped as those words left Miles's mouth and sparked four reactions. Adrien's face grew pale and horrified, Nathalie and Gorilla seemed shocked, and his father's cold glare intensified. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused, gramps," Miles said, either utterly unfazed by the change in atmosphere or just didn't. "And since you're clearly suffering from dementia, I'll say this as bluntly as possible; your son and I are having an A and B conversion, but you can see yourself out."

Oh sh*t. Oh god. Oh no. Adrien's mind spiraled into a panic. Yes, it was true that he wanted to say something about his friend being insulted; he didn't know Miles's mouth would start running on a no filer setting. To make matters worse, he could hear Plagg unhelpfully and silently snickering in his shirt.

Adrien got up and grabbed Miles by the arm, trying to tug him toward the door, "F-father, h-he's just joking around-"

"No. No, I am not," Miles interrupted, and the constant thought of WHY IS HE STILL TALKING?!?!kept bouncing around in Adrien's head. "I meant every word of what I just said, especially the prick part. That's essential."

"You dare come into my home and mock me in such a manner?" Adrien caught his father clinching his hand into a fist.

Miles shrugged, "If you want me to mock you in other ways, gramps, I'll gladly do that. But look on the bright side; at least we know Adrien gets manners from Emilie, not you."

Once he saw his father's face contort into fury, Adrien grabbed Miles by the bottom of his armpits and dragged him out the dining room door, "I-I'll see him out, father! Let's go, Miles!" He whispered in his ear hurryingly.

"See ya, Gabe! And I take back what I said before;" He snagged his bag with his foot on the way out, "No ha sido un placer conocerte, ¡y espero que te caigas y te tuerzas el tobillo!"

Adrien managed to get him out the front door before something worse happened and dropped Miles on his ass near the front gate. "¡Maldita sea, tío! Did you have to drop me so hard?"

"I don't know. Did you have to piss my father off so much?!" Adrien remarked. Having his mom brought into an argument didn't put him in the brightest of moods.

Miles raised his hands in mock surrender, "In my defense, I wasn't prepared for how much of an ass your old man was going to be." He dusted the gravel off his pants, "And I had to say something; my pride was on the line."

"Well, kudos to you on getting the last laugh." Adrien snarked. But when Miles looked a bit guilty, he sighed, "Look, man-"

"No, hold on." Miles suddenly said, surprising Adrien, "I shouldn't have name-dropped your mom like that after what you told me. It... wasn't cool. I'm sorry. It's just your dad has a very... 'interesting' way with words."

Adrien blinked in surprise. While he did appreciate the apology, Adrien wasn't expecting it. He was so used to trying to diffuse potential conflict himself and persuading the offenders to apologize to one another that it didn't occur to him that other people were capable of apologizing themselves.

It was... rather refreshing.

He also admitted to the fact that his father was the one who insulted him first. So, the reason was (sort of) justified.

He groaned in exhaustion, "It's fine. I mean, I wish you two didn't say what you said to each other in the first place, but thanks for feeling bad about it, I guess."

"No problem."

"Adrien!" They turned to see Nathalie at the front door, looking disheveled, "Get inside. Right Now."

"In a minute, I promise." He leaned into Miles's ear, "Don't worry, I'll relay what you told me to my father."

"And why would you do that?" Miles laughed.

Adrien blinked in confusion and hesitantly chuckled, "Be... cause you apologized?"

"Yeah, to you. The day I apologize to your anciano is when pigs fly. Or when hell invades earth. Either one isn't happening." Miles slung his backpack over his shoulder and waved, "Adiós, Adrien. See you at school tomorrow."

Adrien didn't get a chance to wave back as Nathalie called him again. He looked back to catch a glimpse of his backpack before they made it back inside. Adrien began staring at his father's work door as if waiting for him to come out and say something about picking better friends.

Or something along those lines.

Beside him, Nathalie said, "Your father wants me to tell you to practice your piano for a bit until he cools off."

"And how long is a 'bit' going to be?" He asked.

She sighed, "Probably another thirty minutes."

Adrien let out a low groan, making his way up the stairs. "I'll be waiting then." He shut his door and plopped facedown onto his couch, deciding he had enough time for a power nap. After putting a message in the group chat saying he wouldn't make it to the arcade, he set a timer on his phone in case he didn't wake up in time.

That is until he realized Plagg existed as he flew out his shirt and started cackling, saying, "That was the first time I've seen anyone rip into your old man like that! It was like watching a home movie. My only regret is that I didn't bring food. A diner and a show!"

"I'm so glad..." Adrien let out a yawn, "That you were... entertained."

And just like that, he went out like a light.

...

...

...

...

"Kid. Kid!" He felt something nudge his shoulder and then smack him on the head, "Adrien, wake up!"

He tried to swat Plagg away but missed, "Let me sleep. Timer didn't go off, I got time."

"Not that!" The kwami grabbed Adrien by his hair, forcing his head off the couch and facing the t.v.

"Ow! Plagg, what the f-"

"Look!"

Adrien relented and realized that his t.v was on, not off, showing a building covered in ink before disappearing. It was enough to wake him to alertness as he unmuted the television, and the image minimized, letting Nadja stand beside it.

"We've just revived word that an Akuma has been seen attacking the newly opened 'Hushcade.' There has been no sign of Ladybug, Chat Noir, or the vigilante Spider-Man as of late."

The image maximized again, getting a birds-eye view of the arcade before it vanished. It showed some families and high schoolers running out; some sought shelter, and some didn't even make it past the front door.

"Eyewitnesses report that the Akuma is calling themselves 'The Collector.'"

Seriously!?Adrien felt his eye starting to twitch.

"Well," Plagg started, "Looks like your pops took that tongue-lashing a bit too personally."

Adrien groaned into his couch pillow in response.

"Also, weren't your friends going to that same arcade?" Plagg asked.

...sh*t.

Twenty minutes earlier...

"Adiós, Adrien. See ya at school tomorrow."

Miles let his carefree smile fall as soon as his back was turned, trying to force an angry feeling down. Yet, it was difficult when Gabriel's words kept bouncing around in his head.

Who the hell does that anciano think he is?He kicked a stray pebble, watching it fall into a sewer grate. Calling me a lost cause while he looks like he has a candy cane stuck up his ass and made it a part of his wardrobe.

Miles continued walking, making it to the bank of Canal Saint-Martin. He couldn't go back to Fus' place, not until he cooled off. He didn't want the old man to worry. His talk with Gabriel (There is no way in hell he would call that asshole someone's dad) rubbed him off the wrong way. Gracias a Dios, I don't have to see him again.

He sat on one of the breaches, watching a father and his five-year-old-looking son getting ice cream on the bridge. It reminded him of him and his dad when they went to that coffee shop.

Miles placed his head in his hands and groaned into them, leaning back. I miss home. I don't belong here...

But try as he might, Miles knew another random hole wouldn't just open up in the sky. And even if one did, he wouldn't know where he would end up. Fu started looking for a Miraculous that allowed the user to cross dimensions, but who knows how long that would take.

So, he was forced to play the waiting game.

The sound of someone crying jolted him upright as he saw the kid from earlier drop his ice cream. The dad reached down and picked him up, patting him on the back to comfort them. The child stopped crying and got a replacement.

The agitated feeling in his chest grew as his mind recalled his conversion with Gabriel. Well, less of a conversation and more like talking a brink wall. Hell, even Adrien couldn't get a word in edgewise. It was like he had already made up his mind before meeting Miles and just sent him away after some not-so-subtle insults to his family.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. So much so that he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings until his spider-sense went off, and he looked up to see a butterfly fluttering toward him.

An Akuma.He realized as it got closer. sh*t. How pissed was I?

Miles jumped from his seat but in his panic, tripped over loose concrete, falling on his back. He saw the Akuma was making it to his backpack, so Miles went to reach it before the butterfly got to its destination.

He managed to grab one of the handles.

But he was a second too late to pull it back.

Falling back and clenching his head, Miles suddenly found it challenging to beath. His anger from before increased tenfold as he saw the Akuma seep into his backpack. Plus, with every negative feeling he ever had rising to the surface, something new filling his head with static, and his spider-sense going nuts, it combined into the worst headache he's ever felt.

Then he heard a voice so condescending that it made him want to puke.

'Good afternoon, PayBack. Since this is our first meeting, let me introduce myself; I am HawkMoth.'

"Yeah. I gathered. Magical evil disembodied voice that no one wants or enjoys?" Miles gritted out, "Dead giveaway."

'Such harsh words. Almost as harsh as the ones Gabriel Agreste spat at you, insulting your family like that. You have my condolences.'

"Terrific; I got pity from a terrorist." He tried to stand using the bench for support, but his legs buckled, and he fell to his knees, "Hope it comes with a receipt 'cause I don't want it!"

'No, I offer something much more. Power. Power to punish Gabriel Agreste and make him rue the day he ever made insults towards you or your family. He's too heartless to consider how his words affect others.'

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm not the revenge type."

'So, you'd let this man's insults go unpunished? Your mother clearly did something wrong raising you if you're not going to fight for your pride.'

His anger rose. "LEAVE MY MOM OUT OF THIS!" Miles shouted.

'Yes! Use that anger! Defend your family's honor! I can help you.'

Head... spinning. Can't think straight.Before he could decline (though it would be a pretty sweet deal if he accepted), Miles felt someone grab him by the shoulders. He looked up to see it was Nino. "Hey, Miles! Look at me, man. Keep fighting him!"

'Why fight me when the target of your ire is unmistakable.'

"Tryin'. He's... persistent." (Plus, Gabriel Agreste does deserve what's coming to him and then some) "Any... more advise, Nino?"

'He doesn't have any. Even your friend Nino can attest to how cruel Gabriel Agreste is.'

"Um...! Breathe deep and focus! And try to think positive thoughts. Like a good memory or something."

"Or something?!" Miles hissed.

"That's all I got! I've only been akumatized once, so I'm no help, dude!"

Miles decided why the hell not and pulled out every happy memory he could think of.

He thought of his dad and how they made the makeshift memorial for Uncle Aaron together. He thought of how he and his mom made their first guava sauce together.

But his happiest one was when the day Billie took her first breath. His baby sister being born was joyous enough, but it was also the only time his parents and Uncle Aaron put aside their differences for the day and celebrated new life. But as more of those thoughts surfaced, the more Miles felt like his head was gonna burst like a balloon.

HawkMoth was persistent, sure. But Nino's advice was working. Miles got off one knee, gripping his backpack strap like a vice.

He could feel the hold HawkMoth had on him slipping.

'You might not get another chance like this, Miles! I can help you get what you want! What you need!'

He's panicking. Good. "No. You... can't. What I... want you-you can't provide. And total... offense, but I... want no-nothing... from a guy who... wears a bald cap. But... What I do need," He grabbed the strap with his other hand and tore it in two, shouting, "IS FOR YOU TO GET! OUT! OF! MY! DAMN! HEAD!"

Upon ripping the strap, the Akuma flew out, and an overwhelming relief swept over Miles. He took a few deep breaths and felt Nino's hand on his shoulder before realizing the Akuma would get away.

He also realized he couldn't do anything overbearing to reveal he was Spider-Man to Nino. But that didn't mean he would take the attempted brainwashing lying down.

So before it could get away, Miles took a running start and snatched the butterfly out of the air using the bench as a springboard. When he landed, he could feel it and HawkMoth trying to worm their way back into his subconscious. Before it could do its job, Miles tore the Akuma in two.

Then four.

Then six.

Eight.

Ten.

Until the little butterfly was no more than scraps.

God, I hope he felt that. Miles thought bitterly before feeling his legs buckle, falling backward. Nino caught him before he could hit the ground.

"I gotcha. You alright?" Nino asked, putting an arm over his shoulder.

"Sure." Miles coughed. He felt blood trickle down to his lip and onto his shirt. Cleaning that out is going to be a pain. "Nothing like fighting off a supervillain transformation to get your blood pumping. Pretty sure people can relate."

Nino shook his head. "As far as I know, you're the first to fight off an Akumatization. You sure you're okay?"

"I have the worst migraine in history. But I'll live. I think..." Miles said.

"You think?!" Nino exclaimed before coming to a decision. "That's it. I'm taking you to a hospital-"

"NO!" Miles shouted even though he didn't mean to. It just made the migrainesworse. "No. No hospital. I just need a place to chill for a bit."

"Well, I'm not exactly comfortable with leaving you here. In case you haven't noticed, your nose is bleeding." Nino paused before asking, "Do you know your address?"

Miles was about to say yes but remembered Fu's rules of not inviting anyone into his house. It wasn't like the old man didn't have good reasons; there was just no way of knowing who was working for or was HawkMoth.

But it ruled out Nino, considering the fact that he was with Miles and not wearing a dress shirt with too much f*cking purple. That didn't rule out the possibility of him being in the area.

And it wasn't like Fu would let an intruder in his house.

So, Miles just lied. "Not at the moment. Head still spinning. Just... take me somewhere quiet."

"Somewhere like wh-" He heard Nino pause before moving. "I know a place. There's an arcade near here. I was heading to before I ran into you."

Miles resisted the urge to groan. "I said somewhere quiet. Not somewhere likely to make my head feel like pop upon entering."

"It ain't that kind of arcade." Nino said, "The Hushcade's dark and quiet inside for people with sensory overload problems, and you can use headphones for some of the games. Plus, it's pretty cozy."

He thought about it. It didn't sound like a bad idea; it's just that Miles didn't feel like causing anyone else any problems (plus he didn't want to make any more attachments to the people of this world. It would hurt less when he finds a way home). "Look, man-"

"Besides, it's either that or the hospital. Pick one."

Goddamn it... Miles glared at Nino for a bit before conceding and grabbing his bag. "You know where you're goin'?"

Nino nodded, using his phone as a map, and started walking. "Yeah. Max directed me where to go, and the others should be there."

That made Miles do a double-take, "Others?! As in, more people are gonna be there?"

Nino laughed sheepily, "Oh, did I forget to mention that?"

Miles decided it would be best just to let Nino take him than to attempt to chokeslam him into the ground. It would hurt less.

Chapter 14: Issue 13 (Finding Friends Outside of the Rule Book)

Chapter Text

After a short walk...

They couldn't get to the arcade by train, so they had to take the bus. Once seated, Nino started to nag Miles about how he attracted an Akuma.

So, reluctantly, Miles started to recall the events that led up to his attempted Akumatization.

"YOU SAID WHAT TO HIM!?"

But he neglected to figure out that a part of his story would cause Nino to flip out.

Miles covered Nino's mouth to quiet him down, although several passengers gave the boys confused glances. Miles smiled awkwardly and said, "My, uh... dog was misbehaving this morning, and I had to reprimand him. Said some things I probably shouldn't have."

Some passengers didn't care, but the excuse seemed to work, and they all went back to their business.

With a sigh he didn't know he was holding in, Miles gave Nino the stink eye. The DJ wore a blue button-up shirt and khaki shorts, "Could you maybe keep your voice down? I don't need everyone in Paris to know I was almost Akumatized, and I'm still nursing my migraine." He said.

"Sorry, sorry. I just can't imagine anyone saying that to Adrien's old man. At least not to his face..." Nino mumbled the last part before looking at Miles like the cat that ate the canary, "Well, don't stop there; what happened next?"

Miles shrugged, "Nothing much; after I bought up his wife, Adrien got me out of there before Gab could blow a gasket. Yeah, I did feel bad about bringing up his mom in the argument, but not about calling Gab a prick. Nothing that man will do can ever change that."

To his surprise, Nino agreed, saying, "He insulted you and your family. It makes sense that you would defend them; anyone would do the same thing." Nino said that last bit with a little more bite in his voice, "And if Adrien's dad can't handle being insulted, he shouldn't be doing it himself."

"You say that like you met the guy before," Miles said.

He nodded, "I have. I met the guy in August to see if I could convince him to let Adrien have a birthday party since he never had one. Can you believe that? The dude never had a birthday party before."

"I'm guessing Gab responded like a prick, didn't he?"

Nino scoffed, "That's putting it mildly. After meeting me once, the dude called me a bad influence, and I didn't even get an apology!"

"Wow..." Miles muttered. "Not gonna lie, kinda wished you told Gab wasn't as nice as his son."

Nino was taken aback, stating, "I did! Several times! But you blew me off and said, 'YoU'rE wOrRyInG tOo MuCh. He cAn'T bE ThAt bAd.' You still think he ain't that bad?"

"Fine," Miles held up one hand and placed the other over his chest, "I promise to follow your advice regarding the grown-ups in Paris from now on. That better?"

Instead of being criticized like Miles thought, he got a pat on the back and a wholehearted laugh from Nino. "It's fine. I'm just messing with ya," He said, "At least we have one more thing in common."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Miles asked.

He watched as Nino's face turned into irritation. "We both loathe Gabriel Agreste."

Miles blinked. He wouldn't exactly say he despised Gabriel. But if Miles encountered the man standing on the sidewalk with no bodyguard, he'd probably take a running start and clock him in the back of the head. Would he regret it? No. Would he get in trouble? Most likely. Would he do it again if he had the chance? Absolutely.

But judging by Nino's face, Miles decided it would be best to change the subject before the boy got Akumatized. Miles nudged Nino's arm to get his attention, "And like that, Cappy," Miles held out his hand in an arm wrestling position. "We just became the best of friends."

Nino stared at the hand momentarily before sprouting a grin, grasping Miles's hand firmly. "Thanks. But, uh... try and come up with a better nickname than Cappy." He said.

"What's wrong with that name?" Miles asked.

Nino seemed embarrassed and fiddled with his headphones. "It... just has some ties with a traumatic encounter with a spider Akuma."

Miles winced. He forgot that not everyone would easily recover from Wolf Spider's attack on the school like others. Poor guys' trauma must be bad. "Yeah. I heard ArachQueen wasn't exactly kind to you guys. Sorry you had to go through that."

Out of everything, Miles wasn't expecting Nino to look confused and say, "What? Nah, man, it wasn't ArachQueen I'm talkin' about."

"Oh... Wait, then, who are you talkin' about?" Miles asked. "There was another spider-like Akuma?"

"Yeah," Nino looked around as if the person he was going to talk about would pop into existence. He leaned closer. "And they were called..." Nino shivered, "Anansi."

Miles racked his brain around to see if that name sounded familiar. It didn't.

Before he could ask more questions, the bus stopped, "Looks like we're here. Come on, Miles."

Getting off the bus, the two took a minute's walk to get to the arcade before it was in sight. The line stretched from the front door to a lamp post, but Miles saw one of their classmates standing under the neon-colored entrance with a finger over a person's lips on top of the building with the neon sign that read 'Hushcade.'

Their classmate was currently scrolling through their phone; they were wearing different clothes than before, but the mohawk Miles remembered. He wore a black T-shirt with a blue shooting star coming from his left sleeve and cargo pants.

However, realizing he didn't remember the person's name, Miles tried racking his brain for a bit. What was his name? Tim? No, that's not right. Jim, maybe?

The boy caught sight of Nino and waved, "Hey, Nino!" When he finally noticed Miles, his face contorted into surprise, "...And the new kid?" To horrified upon seeing blood on Miles's shirt, "Who's bleeding—what the hell happened?!"

Nino waved him off, "It's dried blood, Kim." Kim. That's his name. I was close. "Miles just had a bit of a nosebleed. He's fine." He spared Miles a worried glance, "Right?"

Miles rolled his eyes, "Yes, Dad, I'm alright. Do I need permission to stay out past ten too?"

Nino jabbed into Miles's side as Kim laughed and shrugged, thankfully dropping it. "Wait, Nino," Kim said, "I thought you were grounded."

"Grounded? For what?" Miles knew, 'For what.' He could guess what happened anyway. He remembered how worried Nino's and Alya's parents were when they picked them up from the police station. (And feeling envious that they got to hug their family.)

He also remembered telling them not to mention talking to Spider-Man. Miles just wanted to see how bad the lie was going to be.

"Uh-" Nino started, "Alya and I... were scouting for... stellar new couple spots! Y'know, for our dates. Valentine's Day's just around the corner."

Kim counted his fingers off before turning back to Nino. "Wasn't Valentine's Day, like, a month-and-a-half ago? Also, Adrien asked you the same thing, and you said you and Alya wanted to see what Paris looked like in the night-"

"IT CAN BE BOTH, KIM," Nino said through gritted teeth.

All the while, Miles was trying his hardest not to laugh; he really, really was.

"Anyway," Nino sighed, "After the ArachQueen debacle, my mom ungrounded me. So here I am."

"Neat," Kim said.

Kim and Nino had their discussion when Miles felt his phone buzz. He pulled it out to find out that someone had texted him—another number he didn't recognize.

+33-XXX-XXXX-XX: hey. This is marinette from school.

+33-XXX-XXXX-XX: i'm just texting you to see if you're ok.

+33-XXX-XXXX-XX: i heard you were headed to gabriel agrestes' and was worried you might get akumatized.

+33-XXX-XXXX-XX: he's not the kindest of people so i just wanted to check in.

+33-XXX-XXXX-XX: you know as the class representative.

When did I give her my number? Did she look in the school directory or something?Regardless, Miles thought it would be rude not to answer.

+33-XXX-XXXX-XX's name has been changed to Florecer

Miles: all good on my end!

Miles: not akumatized yet.

Miles: thanks for worrying tho.

Florecer:np

Florecer:also what does Florecer mean?

Miles:look it up and you'll find out.

Florecer:???

Miles couldn't keep the goofy grin off his face and almost burst out laughing when he got a text back.

Florecer:bloom

Florecer:srsly?

Miles:

Florecer:cute

Florecer:change it

Miles:change it?

Florecer:yes

Miles:are you sure?

Florecer:Yes.

Miles:are you really sure?

Florecer:YES

Miles:ok ok calm down

Miles:here

Florecer's name has been changed to Fashion🌸Power

At the same time, in Place des Vosges...

"Alya, stop laughing! It's not funny!" Marinette chided Alya, who was laughing her ass off and clutching her sides.

The two didn't have anything else to do; Alya needed a place to work on some Ladyblog project of hers, and Marinette planned on waiting for an inevitable akumatized version of Miles. So, the two went to the park near the Agreste mansion.

But none of that happened. All that happened instead was her getting stuck with a stupid name and getting laughed at by her friend.

"It's hilarious!" Alya said between giggles, "You were all worried and embarrassed about what to text the guy, only to be teased and called a flower! What's not to laugh at?!"

Marinette pouted, "You know, a real best friend wouldn't laugh and instead try and help."

"Girl, we've known each other since we were in diapers. If you really don't think I can multitask, then can you truly call yourself a best friend?" Marinette stuck her tongue out in response, to which Alya just chuckled, "You should probably answer before that name becomes permanent~." Alya teased.

Marinette ignored Alya's smug voice and returned to her phone.

Fashion🌸Power:i dont know why im asking you to change it when i can do it myself

"Marinette is now attempting to assert some form of dominance over her opponent. Will she succeed? Or will she-"

Marinette put her hand over Alya's mouth.

Miles:true

Miles:but that would mean youd be admitting defeat

Miles:and somethin' tells me youre too proud for that

That stupid, smug sonuva- Marinette began frantically typing several different responses to get back at him, but none sounded good, so she deleted it. Now she was stuck in a delete-type-like cycle.

"OOOH! It appears Miles has Marinette in a corner, folks! And it looks like whatever plan she had has now been foiled by the fact she's so easy to read! How will she recover?!"

There was also the fact that Alya was the worst at commentary when it wasn't needed. "Hey, you know that thing you're doing with your mouth right now?"

"You mean talking?" Alya asked owlishly.

"Yeah, that. No more of that, okay?" Marinette brightly smiled.

Alya just rolled her eyes, "You're just mad that my voice is like a gentle lullaby!"

Marinette reached over and pulled on Alya's cheek. "Lullabies would need to be requested, not showing up when they feel like it." She had more to add until an idea came to her. She smirked and asked, "What was that name you called Miles again? You know, on his first day of school." She let out a small 'eep' after Alya poked her side, letting go of the Ladybloggers cheek.

"I don't know." Alya started racking her brain around but shook her head, "I'm drawing a blank. Sorry."

Marinette waved her off, "It's fine; I just remembered it anyways."

She went back to typing as she felt Alya's head resting on her shoulders.

Fashion🌸Power:im warning you

Fashion🌸Power:better change the name

Miles:hm

Miles:idk

Miles:changing its gonna cost a lot

Miles:and by cost a lot, i mean a '5% discount on everything in the dupain-cheng bakery'

Miles:and by everything, i mean the chocolate croissants

Is- is he trying to scam me for discounts?Marinette turned to Alya to see if she was seeing it too.

Alya turned to her, nodded, and grinned savagely, "Whatever you're gonna do, make it count."

Marinette matched Alya's grin with her own.

Fashion🌸Power:youre not going to change the name?

Fashion🌸Power:fine

Fashion🌸Power:but just remember

Fashion🌸Power:i gave you an out

Miles's name has been changed to molasses

"Ohh..." Alya muttered, "I'ma be honest, I should be the one calling him that. I said it first."

Marinette shrugged, "Yeah, well, you didn't trademark it, so I'm using it."

"Right. But I could have."

"But you didn't." Her phone buzzed. "Hold on."

"Oh, tell him I said hey."

molasses: ok see

molasses: Fashion🌸Power makes sense because youre a fashion designer and you love flowers

molasses:however

molasses:molasses makes zero sense

Fashion🌸Power:exactly

Fashion🌸Power:thats the point

Fashion🌸Power:but heres the deal

Fashion🌸Power:im willing to drop the name

Fashion🌸Power:IF

Fashion🌸Power:you drop mine as well

Fashion🌸Power:i, however, have grown to like Fashion🌸Power

Fashion🌸Power:so

Fashion🌸Power:your move

Fashion🌸Power:alya says hi by the way

molassesis typing...

molassesis typing...

molasses:you got me in a box here

molasses:

molasses:also hey alya

"I will say, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, that was some nice negotiating." Alya raised her hand for a high-five, which Marinette returned. The Ladyblogger went back to whatever she was doing on her laptop.

Mariette saw an image of Spider-Man on the screen but didn't say anything about it.

"I do try." Marinette chuckled.

molasses:alright me and some of the guys are headed into some sound-sensitive arcade thing

molasses:so i might be radio silent for a bit

Fashion🌸Power:k

Fashion🌸Power:have fun

"You know what I just realized," Alya clicked her laptop shut. "This is the first time you haven't gaga over a guy that isn't Adrien."

Marinette blinked, "What? I never want gaga over a guy that wasn't Adrien."

"Yeah, you have."

"Really?" Marinette asked confidently, "Name one per-"

"Luka."

Marinette flinched guiltily at Alya's deadpan voice and at the mention of Juluka's older twin brother. "Okay... fine. You got me."

"But, like, don't get me wrong; whatever this thing you have with Miles is way better and clearer too." Alya said, "It already helps with the fact he's obviously in love with this Gwanda chick you saw in his notebook."

It was an accident; Marinette only saw a sketch of the girl for a few seconds before Miles snatched the book out of her hands and tried to change the subject. But Marinette made it extremely clear that she wouldn't judge or make fun of his love interest and instead encouraged him to confuse his feelings for Gwanda. Marinette even offered to help, and she was more than willing.

Until Miles commented that she was in another country, but they clicked with their love for blonds and designs after that.

"So, I like this brother-sister dynamic you guys have." Alya started to pack up her stuff, "But enough about boys. Where do you wanna go next?"

Marinette shrugged, "Well, I planned to stop by Socqueline's family's art and crafts shop sometime today or tomorrow. Mom asked to get some more paint for her class."

Alya smiled fondly, "Between HawkMoth and school, we haven't been able to visit or talk with her since... what, the ninth grade? Wonder how's she doing."

"We can ask when we get there." Marinette scrolled through the bus times on her phone for the route they were going to take, "The next bus arrives in ten minutes."

The two girls began walking to the bus stop, and Marinette felt a little lighter, knowing that one of her friends wasn't going to get akumatized.

(If she and Alya stayed for a little longer, one of them would have noticed a figure leaping over their head).

After a while,

The line shortened, and Kim, Miles, and Nino made went inside. Miles was surprised at how quiet and clean the place was. Well, almost quiet; the soft sound of the games giving off a humming sound could be heard if a person listens hard enough. Whoever was the head of the interior design of this place capitalized on the neon aesthetic. Miles realized. They had various games; shooters, racing, dancing, and pinball machines. Looking at the screen above the front desk lady, they showed a racetrack too.

"So, where'd you guys find the money for this?" Miles asked, glancing at the prices. They weren't exactly what one would call cheap.

"Well," Kim sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, "The original plan was that Adrien would pay for all of our playcards. But-"

Nino cut him off, "No one liked the idea of mooching off one of our friends. So, the new plan was to put half of all our allowances together three months before the grand opening."

"Speaking of Adrien, is he still coming?" Kim asked.

Miles and Nino shared a look. "Kim, you know how Miles here went with Adrien after school today?" Nino tipped his cap down to cover his eyes to hide his gaze.

"Oh yeah. You said something about meeting Mr. Agreste so Adrien could tutor you, right? How'd that go?" Kim asked.

Just thinking about it made Miles angry, but he kept a lid on it to avoid attracting another Akuma. Lord knows he didn't need another headache, "Guess."

The two watched as the gears started slowly turning in Kim's head. "Ohhhh... So, no Adrien?"

"No Adrien."Not unless his gilipollas of a father could lighten up. Which I doubt will ever happen. "Someone should probably text him to make sure, though."

"Next!"

The last group of people in front of them left the line before anyone of them could get their phones out.

"Hi," Kim said, "Uh, we're with a group named 'Markov.'"

"Head to table twenty." The grey-haired front desk receptionist said, wearing a green neon shirt, vintage-looking sunglasses, and a name tag that said 'Stan.' This dude looks too old to be working in a high-maintenance place like this.Miles thought.Why does he look familiar, though? "How many cards do you want?" He asked.

Kim and Nino looked uncertain as Miles felt, unsure if they should leave Adrien out of their hangout without contexting him when he was potentially grounded. "Uh, three, please," Nino said, ignoring the looks Miles and Kim gave.

Stan nodded and gave Kim the cards. "Now, since you three are new, I'll explain the same rules I told your friends—no outside food or drinks. If you do have any, please finish it outside. Second, we are not responsible for any lost belongings, so keep them close to your person. And the third and final rule is absolutely NO screaming or shouting. If we have to tell you too many times to be quiet, you and your group will be kicked out. Understood?" The boys nodded, causing the receptionist to give a small smile. "Great! Now that that's settled go have fun."

The three hesitantly made their way to their table, Miles and Kim giving each other a nervous glance. "Uh, Nino," Miles started, "Won't Adrien be pissed that I used up his spot or something?"

"It'll be fine, probably..." Nino muttered before sighing, handing Miles one of the cards. "I'll try and make it up with him tomorrow."

Miles didn't feel convinced; from the looks of it, neither did Kim. So Miles decided it would be best to change the subject. "So all the food and drinks from the buffet are prepaid?"

"Yep," Kim said enthusiastically, "So, now we get to eat some pizza and play games. It's awesome!" One of the employees they passed made a 'shhh' sound at Kim. He winced, mouthing 'sorry.'

"Let's just be sure to keep it down. Talkin' to you, Kim." Nino said, ignoring Kim's quiet offended, 'Hey!'

It took some trial and error to find their table. Kim was the first to spot it, waving down the other guys.

Miles only remembered Max's name, and that was only because his robot Markov was hovering near him. Max wore a grey jacket with a horizontally striped blue, green, and orange short-sleeved shirt and blue jeans. The red-haired one with his head in his sketchbook wore a purple hoodie and grey jeans. The bulky one wore grey sweatpants and a yellow T-shirt. They had a large tray of food in front of them, full of fries and pizza.

"Hey, guys." Nino took a fry from the bulky boy's plate. "So, bad news, but Adrien can't make it to guy time."

"Why? What happened?" The redhead asked, wiping the crumbs off his mouth.

Miles stepped forward, "Gab decided to be that prick of the year and not let his son go out. At least, that's what I think happened."

"And how did you acquire this information, Miles?" Max pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose, the light bouncing off it.

"Well," Miles sat in the empty seat between the redhead and Max, "As you know, Adrien invited me for tutoring, but Ass-greste senior decided to kill the good vibes that were present. He didn't let Adrien tutor and sent me on my way." Miles could tell them the specific details of what happened, but that was his business. Plus, part of the argument involved his and Adrien's personal stuff, revealing that wouldn't be fair.

Miles was petty, sure. But he was NOT an asshole. The only reason he even told Nino was because of the aftermath of the magical-induced migraine.

"That's what happened?" The redhead let out a small sigh, looking and sounding disappointed but not surprised, "Can't say none of us didn't see something like this coming. At least you're taking it better than Nino did."

"LO-" Nino started before quieting down after realizing where they were. "Look, Nathaniel, buddy, I went over there to convince Aderin's old man to let his son have a birthday party, he said some hurtful words, and I got mad. Never got an apology of any kind after that."

"Like I said, Miles is taking it way better than you did."

Miles shrugged, grabbing a cheeseburger from one of the tyes, "Not really. I mean, I was almost Akumatized after talking to Gab, but it's fine now."

He bit into his burger. Maybe it was the new yorker in him, but It wasn't the greatest he had. In Mile's opinion, Home Frite did way better, but that was neither here nor there.God, I miss home.

Still chewing his burger, Miles went to grab some fries when he realized that everyone (sans Nino) at their table was staring at him in astonishment. He swallowed his food and his nervousness while all eyes were on him. "...What?"

"Did- did you just say you were 'almost' Akumatized?" Kim stammered. "Is that where that bloody nose came from?"

"Yeah...? Well, not almost as in, 'I almost got Akumatized, but Ladybug or Chat Noir were there to help.' Almost as in, 'I almost got Akumatized, but I managed to shake HawkMoth off.'" Judging by how their bewildered expressions intensified, Miles assumed he said something wrong. Then it hit him, "Wait, is that not a common thing around here?"

"No." The bulky one said. "I don't think anyone has fought off HawkMoth before."

"Iavn's right," Max took a small notepad out of his back pocket and started writing stuff down, "At least according to our knowledge, you're the first person to reject being Akumatized."

Oh. Well, there goes my plan for flying under the radar as Miles.If he knew that he would (technically) be the first person to say no to a magical terrorist, then Miles wouldn't have said anything. He didn't need the extra attention. Already Max and Markov were getting in his face to ask questions like 'When did the rejection start' and 'What was the aftermath.'

Luckily, Nino put a stop to the pestering. "Hey, guys. I know this is new and interesting info, but maybe lay off him for a bit. I don't think the guy needs another headache."

Max paused before realizing he was in Miles's personal space and backed up. "A-apologies. But you must understand that every new information that could be used against HawkMoth would be beneficial," He grew somber as he muttered, "For everyone involved."

Suddenly, Miles realized that the questioning he received had a more personal motive behind it than curiosity. He looked around the table, and they had similar expressions as Max. Kim and Nathaniel looked more shamefaced; Nino's looked regrettable as if he had done something wrong. Ivan, however, was the only one out of the guys who looked frustrated, his fist clenched.

Then it clicked; they all were Akumatized at one point.

Which made sense; theydid look familiar at a certain angle. Miles is pretty sure he's seen Nino on the Ladyblog. Plus, Miles couldn't know how it felt to be under HawkMoth's complete control, playing to the terrorist's tune. But feeling that man trying to worm his way into his head didn't feel great either. That feeling wasn't going away anytime soon.

If it felt anything like that, then whatever they went through was probably worse.

Coming to a decision, Miles sighed, "Look, I can't promise nothin'. But... if I'm free over the weekend, maybe I can answer your questions then."

Max's face lit up like a Christmas tree, "Really?!" The others made shushing noises at him. He cleared his throat, seeming embarrassed, "I mean, I appreciate your cooperation on this matter. We can talk about an appropriate time to converse about this topic at a later date."

"Yeah, man, that's fine by me," Miles said.

Kim came over and clapped the two on the shoulder. "Alright, enough talking about evil butterflies. We all came here to unwind and play some games. Who's with me? Nino?"

"Duh. Kinda the whole reason I came." Nino said.

"I'm comin' too." Ivan put a napkin over his food.

"Max and I as well. We are going to try their racing games," Markov said. "I have a 65% chance of success in this endeavor." Miles didn't know how he could hear the co*ckiness in the tiny flying robot's voice, but he did.

Max smirked, "Even with those odds, Markov, I'll still mop the floor with you."

Kim chuckled, "Alright. What about you guys? Nathaniel? Miles?"

"Pass." Nathaniel pulled out a black-covered notebook and a pen, "It's quiet enough for me to finish a sketch for the next issue of the comic that Marc and I are doing."

"And I'm still nursing my magical-induced migraine," Miles said. "But you kids have fun!"

"Suit yourselves." With that, Kim, Nino, Max, and Ivan went to the games and split up from there.

Miles sighed. An audible crack could be heard as he cracked his neck; even though he hadn't been Spider-Man since this morning, he felt drained. I guess HawkMoth took more out of me than I thought.

"You okay?" Nathaniel asked, concern on his face.

"I'll live," Miles shrugged. "Just a little exhausted. I didn't think my day would consist of me getting harassed by an evil butterfly."

"Welcome to Paris. That'll probably be a daily occurrence," Nathaniel humorlessly laughed before backtracking. "Your day being ruined. Not the evil butterflies bit."

Miles smiled and waved him off, "Nah, it's cool." He grabbed one of the water bottles, opened it, and took a sip. Miles didn't want to linger on the topic for too long, so he commented on something the redhead said easier, "What's the name?" He asked. Nathaniel tilted his head in confusion, so Miles had to clarify. "The comic you and your friend are working on; what's it called."

Nathaniels' smiled, beaming at the opportunity to share his creation, "It's called 'The Miraculous Adventures of Cyberbug.' Marc and I have done, like, twenty-four issues so far. It's basically the stuff Ladybug does, but it's set in the future; the year 2099. And there's a futuristic Chat Noir too and Rena, and Carapace, and Queen Bee, and-"

He stopped abruptly, his cheeks turning a little red. He hid his face behind his book, "S-sorry. I'm rambling, aren't I? Sorry."

"Nah, man. That sounds awesome." Miles took another swig of water. "I'm guessing your comic has a future HawkMoth too?"

Nathaniel blinked before taking the book off his face, giving a small smile. "Yeah. I won't go into spoiler territory too much, but HawkMoth 2099, or P1thog5n in this case, uses his own set of viruses to turn people into akumas. It's online if you want to read it."

"I'll add it to the list."

"List?" Nathaniel asked, "What list?"

"The 'the things I'm gonna do and visit while I'm in Paris' list." Miles rummaged through his bag for a pen and a piece of paper. He had to be careful not to accidentally let his costume slip out of his bag. When he found what he was looking for, the list went as follows;

1. Visit the Eiffel Tower

2. Get the basics of the French language down pat

3. Eat a croissant for the first time

4. Try not to make a fool of yourself at your new (temp) school

5. Convice Adrien's pops to let him tutor you (BIG FAIL!! DO NOT TRY AGAIN!!)X

After writing number five, under it, Miles wrote [read Nath and his friends comic when you get the chance]. "Annnnd done." He exclaimed.

"You know there are easier ways to keep track of your bucket list, right?" Nathaniel asked, "Like putting it on your phone or something."

Miles shook his head, "First of all, it's not a bucket list. Why would you need a list of buckets for?" He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And two, I like the ritual of writing stuff down."

When Nathaniel stared at Miles bewilderedly, Miles started to get uncomfortable. Did I step on a landmine or something?

"Do- do you not know what a bucket list is?" The redhead asked.

And Miles was about to answer when he remembered he wasn't on his earth and that different terms mean different things or nothing at all on this earth. So, like a liar, Miles blew air from his lips, saying, "Gotcha! Course I know what a bucket list is. That's the joke. I just wanted to see if you would fall for it. And you did."

"Oh." Nathaniel let out a quiet chuckle, "That's good. For a second, I thought you didn't know what a bucket list was. Cause if you didn't, that would be weird."

"Yeahhhh... Super weird..." Miles awkwardly laughed while sipping some of his water and avoiding eye contact. Eso estuvo cerca...But just to make sure, I better change the subject."So, are you guys looking for another art designer for your comic?"

Nathaniel seemed caught off guard by the sudden question but recovered quickly, "Not at the moment, but in the near future, maybe. I'd have to talk with Marc about it and see the designs you made. With your permission first."

"Oh, sure, man. " Miles reached into his bag again and pulled out his notebook, opened to a page he wanted, and handed it to Nathaniel, "Try not to flip the page forward. I got other... 'personal' sketches in later pages."

He nodded, and Miles watched as Nathanial looked more and more impressed, saying, "This is really good!" Nathaniel praised, "We can definitely use this artwork for future issues."

Miles let a goofy smile sprout on his lips, feeling relieved that his work wasn't ridiculed and feeling his pride swell up. "You want my number so that you can call me when you and your friend have made a decision?" He asked.

Nathaniel nodded.

"Impresionante," Miles said. "You're the third person today who likes my style."

"Really? Who are the other two?" Nathaniel asked.

"Marinette and Alya," Miles said. When Nathaniel excepted him to elaborate, he explained, "We all started talking during our lunch break. I showed Marinette some of my designs, and she showed hers. That girl can draw a mean sundress, let me tell ya. That and Alya liked asking questions about New York."

While it was a skewed explanation, it did happen, just at a different timeframe.

What really happened was that Miles got up forty-five minutes before school started and headed to the bakery for breakfast. They opened around 7:00 A.M, an hour before classes began. He also bumped into Alya on the way, exchanging pleasantries and when they arrived, the person handling the front was not Sabine like he was excepting, but Tom Dupain, Marinette's dad.

At first, Miles was put off by the man who looked like he could crush coals into diamonds with his palm. It definitely wasn't the fact that the man reminded him of Kingpin, not at all.

But after exchanging small talk and Alya already knowing the man, he realized that Tom was just a big teddy bear. It became evident that the man doted on his daughter when he asked if Miles and Marinette were friends, to which Miles said yes.

After that, Miles felt like he earned some sort of brownie points from Tom when he said that.

At the time, Miles thought he could get his breakfast and go and try to squeeze in some patrolling, but when asked by Tom if he and Alya could wake Marinette up. Before the two could even knock on Marinette's door, the young fashion designer came out half-sleep and with bedhead.

Miles also noticed that Marinette apparently liked to put flower patterns on everything, from her regular clothes to her PJs.

After clearing up some misunderstandings, a few chuckles and waiting, the three went to the park near the school. Once there, they pick a spot to sit and chat about various things, the difference and comparisons to Marinette and Miles' designs and Miles' experiences in New York. Apparently, this universe's New York had more superheroes than in his. Lots of them had weird names like Hurricane, Snowflake, and Doorman.

Though, Knightowl sounded cool.

With the topic of Superheroes being brought up, Alya started bugging Marinette about liking Spider-Man or not and it took a lot for Miles not to react. Strangely enough, her stance changed from hating Spider-Man to respecting him. Granted, she still didn't like him; so she was sitting in a grey area.

It wasn't how Miles was planning on spending his morning, but it was nice.

Wait, is that when I traded numbers with those two? That would explain how Marinette was able to text.Miles thought.

"How is living in New York by the way? You miss it?" Nathaniel asked, bringing Miles out of his train of thought.

"Sometimes. But Paris's is also nice." Miles said, "What makes them the same though is the amount of fighting superheroes do."

"True."

Miles and Nathaniel went back to talking about different artworks from different artists (Miles was happy to admit that not much had changed about the artists from his earth and the one he was on) for more than three minutes just and was about to converse more when he felt his spider-sense give off a low but hard buzz. What's-

A quiet "Excuse me?" could be heard behind him. Miles turned around and came face-to-face with a girl with a light tan who looked like someone stuck two sausages on the side of her head. She wore a Galaxy shirt with short sleeves, different colors splattered across her shirt, and had orange jeans with a leather knotted belt.

She looked familiar.

And she had a better sense of fashion Gabriel. So, that's a plus.

The girl gave a friendly smile, "Hi, Miles. Do you mind if I sit with you and Nathaniel?"

Blindsided by her sudden appearance and confused about how she knew his name and Nathaniel, Miles shrugged and gave her some room to sit. "Sorry, do we know you?"

She smiled, "Of course, the three of us are classmates, remember? I wanted to ask you to sit with me and my other friends during lunch, but I spilt-"

"Food all over your jacket and had to rush to the bathroom to clean it; yeah, no, I remember now." He also remembered saving her when ArachQueen attacked the school. "Talia, right?"

"It's actually Lila," Nathaniel corrected, "She's been all around the world and met people like Jagged Stone."

"Is he a rock star or something?" Miles asked, taking a bite of his burger.

"Yeah. He even made a song for her out of appreciation for saving his cat from getting hit by a car." Nathaniel states. "I didn't even know he had a cat before Lila mentioned it."

Miles gave an impressed look, "Really?" Lila grinned, nodding. "That's awesome. So, where can I meet him? Is he a part of the music club at school?" All that question garnered was confused looks. "What?"

"Miles, Jagged Stone doesn't go to our school," Lila said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He travels the world. Playing at one concert to the next."

"Oh..." Miles said numbly. After a beat of silence, he asked, "So, is he, like, homeschooled? Or does he come to school after his world tour?"

"No!" Nathaniel exclaimed in annoyance, which almost caused Miles to drop his burger and caused several parents and employees to glare at him. Nathaniel muttered a few sorries before talking, "Jagged Stone doesn't go to our school; he's not even our age. He's not a teacher either."

"Well, what does he look like?"

Lila pulled out her phone and began typing something. Once she was done, she gave the phone to Miles.

From there, his face morphed into confusion.

Then disgust.

He silently handed the phone back to Lila and didn't say anything for a few seconds before turning to Lila and asking very calmly, "How old is Jagged again?"

The other took a second to register the question. Nathaniel was the first to answer the question, "Well... I'm not sure, but last time I checked, he's in his early thirties."

"Actually," Lila interjected, looking at her phone, "It says here on his Wikipedia page that he's forty."

Miles felt his eye twitch, "Right. And how old are you, Lila?"

"Fifteen. ...Why?" Lila asked.

"I just need help understanding this." Miles took another breath, trying to calm his nerves and hoping,prayingthat he was wrong, "So, what I'm hearing is that a fifty-year-old man wrote a song for a fifteen-year-old. Is that what you two are telling me?"

He let the question linger in the air, watching as they try and get their thoughts together. To see how wrong the whole situation was.

But all he got was a half-assed confirmation from Nathaniel and an "It was out of appreciation?" from Lila.

"Hmm, mmm..." Miles then whipped out his phone and dialed a number he became familiar with while stranded on a new earth. Having a dad for a cop will do that to you.

Granted, they were a different set of numbers, but it would get through to who he needed to call.

"Who, uh... Who are you calling?" Lila asked.

"The police," Miles responded in an almost dead tone.

So, imagine his shock when he was near tackled onto the ground by Lila, trying to take his phone out of his hands and leaving Nathaniel stunned. The only reason he didn't go tumbling to the ground was because of his fingertips sticking to the bottom of the table.

"Don't do that! It's not that serious!" Lila urged, half whispering and half yelling.

"Not that serious?!"

"Yes," Lila said, almost catching his phone if not for Miles moving it out of her grasp in time. "It is NOT whatever you're thinking. So don't finish that call!"

Miles managed to get her off him before hoving his finger over the call button, causing her to keep a respectable distance. "You're literally trying to stop me from calling the cops on a potential child predator! You know that, right?!"

"Don't call him that! You're taking something wholesome and twisting it!" Lila balked.

"There is nothing wholesome about the twenty-five age between the two of you," Miles said. He hoped she saw things from his perspective.

But Lila just scoffed, "He just wrote a song. It's not like he asked me to marry him; if that did happen, you can call the police. But it didn't, so you're just overreacting."

She turned to the only person in the conversion who hadn't said anything and Miles hoped he would take his side. "Right, Nathaniel?!"

Seeing how skittish the redhead looked, he clearly wasn't used to being put on the spot. Miles wanted to avoid involving him if he was uncomfortable, but his help would be appreciated.

Nathaniel took a breath before saying, "Well, Lila... he's not wrong for jumping to that conclusion."

"Ha!" Miles exclaimed, earning a glare from Lila.

"But," Nathaniel gritted out, "Miles, if you're right about this, then I don't think calling the cops would do anything."

Miles and Lila gave each other a look, both of them not getting what Nathanial was getting at and looking to see if the other got the hint. They looked back at Nathaniel. "Explain." They said simultaneously.

"Well, Lila," He started, "I sort of had the same thing train of thought when you first arrived at school."

"ARE-" Lila slapped her hands over her mouth before she could finish her outburst. A few people were giving confused glances in their direction, but no one really paid them any real mind and returned to their business. "Are you serious!?" She hissed, "Who else knows?!"

"Uh- just me! I don't know about everyone else at school, but I haven't told anyone." Nathaniel said hurryingly. "And I'm not saying that you or, god forbid, Jagged did something wrong. But you can see how someone would get the wrong idea, right?"

Lila didn't respond, not verbally. She just scowled and looked away when she saw Nathnial's point.

He turned to Miles, "And Miles, I get that you have good intentions, but as I said, I don't think calling the police would do anything."

"What?" Miles asked hotly, "How? I call the police and-"

"And what?" Nathaniel asked, "Arrest him? How? He's not even in the country any more-"

"And it's private," Lila said, interrupting the two, having an odd yet proud look on her face. Like she had some sort of eureka moment.

Weird.

When both boys gave her confused looks, she explained, "The song. It was never published. So, how could you arrest him for being a supposed pedophile over a song-"

"That never existed. Damn... You're right." Miles hissed. The fact that this Jagged Stone got away with something like that was beyond infuriating.

But... if Pedo Stone does come back to Paris, I can follow him around as Spider-Man to see if he tries anything and catch him in the act or something. That line of thinking made Miles feel a bit better.

"Look, Miles," Lila said, cutting off his train of thought, "I get how the whole thing sounded and that you were worried about me, but could you not tell anyone about this? Please."

Miles wanted to say no; she was basically asking to keep quiet about the whole thing. It went against everything he's learned up til now, what his dad stands for, and Spider-Man does—helping people.

But without anything to go on or evidence whatsoever, there was nothing he could do.

So, while it pissed him off, he agreed. "Fine." He said, "I promise I won't say anything to anyone. But if he tries anything-"

"Then you can call the police. Even though it's not the scenario you're talking about." Lila sighed. She turned to Nathaniel, smiling, "You have to promise too, Nath."

But Miles stopped listening to whatever Nathaniel was about to say next when something set off his spider-sense, causing him to look around frantically. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary; all the customers and employees looked alright.

So, what was-

A shrill scream cut through the quiet building, gaining everyone's attention. A second later, more screams, along with frightened people who were standing outside, came rushing in. Some hid under tables or behind walls or columns.

Some weren't so lucky.

The people who couldn't hide were hit by a small flying object and frozen in ink before disappearing. Even some of the kids who were traveling with their parents weren't safe.

Miles didn't get a chance to see who was causing all of it and tried to find a spot to change before he got pulled down by Nathaniel, who was hiding under the table with Lila. "Are you trying to get hit or something?!" He asked but was bearly heard over the screaming.

"Wh- no." Miles peeked over just in time to see a man with magenta-ish-gray skin and white hair stuck up at a point with black vertical stripes with the back of his head and neck the same color. He wore sunglasses with a red hue and black on the edges, a black pointed-shouldered dress suit with a white lapel, and black and red downward-bent stripes on the front. Each lower sleeve had white lines, and he was wearing white gloves.

What Miles found funny, despite the situation, was that the guy looked familiar. Then he started posing.

"All these various and interesting electronic games will fit perfectly in my collection! But there's only one person in Paris who shall feel the wrath of The Collector!"

Vous devez vous moquer de moi, putain. Gabriel Agreste? Seriously?!Never in his life has Miles felt the urge to facepalm as hard as he wanted to at that moment.

The object Gabriel was throwing was a black book with white stripes and red on the middle edge. Staring at the book long enough made his spider-sense give off that familiar tugging sensation. Found the Akuma, at least. Luckily with Lila's and Nathaniel's terrified eyes on The Collector, Miles saw the opportunity to sneak away. Behind one of the games should be enough cover to jump to the rafters and change into my costume.

He was almost there when high-pitched screaming made him sharply turn his head just in time to see a dad and his son almost getting caught with the dad pushing his son out of the way in time. But The Collector was slowly approaching as if he was taking joy in scarring the kid for life.

"Don't cry," He said, his book raised high, "You and your father will soon be reunited in my new collection!"

Miles doesn't remember doing it, but he quickly grabbed one of the basketballs and threw it at The Collector's head. The sound of the ball bouncing off his head was funny but short-lived when he turned and looked at Miles.

The confused glare on The Collector's face turned into a full-blown enraged scowl. "YOU." He growled.

Shoot. "Hey, Gab," Miles saw Nathaniel and Lila from their hiding places, giving Miles a 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!??!' look. Miles just mouthed 'Get Ladybug' before turning his attention back to The Collector. "Love your suit and the color scheme; the shoulder pans do a good job at making you look condescending. Not a huge fan of the hair, though." Miles motioned the little boy, who was still frozen, to run.

The Collector didn't respond, hurling his book at Miles. He had to be careful not to show off too much while dodging out of the way. Miles got out of the way in time but at the cost of his bag getting hit and absorbed into the book.

I should probably start wearing my costume under my clothes next time.Miles thought, spotting the backdoor on the far side of the building. Let's hope that door leads to the alleys. He couldn't fight The Collector in his civilian clothes, but he could make sure no one else would get targeted.

Just got to make sure he follows me. Miles got up and backed away slowly. He smiled, "Look, if it's about the whole insulting you in your own home, I wouldn't have said it if you were going to react this way. But you went low first; I just went lower." He looked around to find the nearest thing to throw. He spotted a metal water canister on the table next to him and moved to it slowly. "But, I will apologize if you do it first."

The Collector scoffed, "You think an apology will make up for what you said!? You insulted my wife!"

Miles heard someone (Kim? Max? Someone else?) say a muffed 'What?!', "Listen, Gab-"

"My name is The Collector!"

"Yeahwhatever," Miles waved off, "I think there's been a little mix-up. I wasn't insulting Adrien's mom," Pause for effect... "I was insulting you. But I can see where you got confused with your ego being as big as the Eiffel Tower."

It was rather humorous seeing The Collector's grey face somehow turning red in anger.

The split second when he was about to throw the book, Miles grabbed the canister as fast as he could without making it suspicious and chucked it at The Collector's head, running like a bat outta hell as soon as it connected.

At least, that was part of the original plan.

What happened instead was that when Miles threw the canister, he panicked and threw it harder than he would've liked. The resulting sound went along the lines of hearing metal hitting a wall. The Collector stumbled backward for a few steps before collapsing like a house of cards.

I-I didn't hit him that hard, did I? And why did everybody go quiet?! A gunshot could go off, and it still wouldn't be louder than the silence. People emerged from their hiding spots; some saw the opportunity to run, and others started taking pictures of the unconscious Akuma and Miles.

"Dude..." Kim came over and sounded as dumbfounded as Miles felt, "Miles, you just knocked out an Akuma."

"No..." Miles went over to the man's unconscious body and hastily took the akumatized object out of his hands while trying whatever desperate attempt he could think of to make himself invisible (the irony was not lost on him either), "I just knocked out Gabriel Agreste." I guess I was more pissed at him than I thought...

The people who stayed behind started muttering amongst themselves as Nino came over and wrapped Miles in a hug. I-is he crying!? "That... was majestic," Nino said, bits of tears leaking from the conder of his eyes. "I am soglad I recorded that. Thank you so much for letting me capture that glorious moment."

Lila gave Nino a confused and concerned look, "Nino, are you crying?"

"Don't worry about it, dudette. These are tears of joy."

"Nino," Ivan came in, looking shocked, "Miles just assaulted a man."

"Technically speaking," Max said, "Miles assaulted an Akuma. Who currently has captured numerous people and buildings in his book. He just de-escalated the situation."

"Yeah, speaking of Akumas, has anyone been able to get in touch with Ladybug or Chat Noir?" Nathaniel asked.

Spider-sense picked up two somethings approaching that answered the question. Miles turned to the front door just in time to see Ladybug land first, holding a polka-dotted paintball gun and paused after witnessing the scene before her, then Chat Noir, whose battle-ready smirk fell after seeing the same sight.

Everyone had this collective momentary silence before Chat tried to creak a joke, "You know, I had a book pun prepared for The Collector. But given the situation, I'm learning to have a better handle on my shelf control."

No one reacted except for Miles, who had to cover his mouth to keep from smiling. "Sorry if you two were exciting some action."

"It's... fine," Ladybug said, "Who knocked the Akuma?"

"Miles did," Lila stated. She looked like she was holding something in. Miles didn't know what it was, but it didn't look friendly. "He risked his life to ensure no one else got captured, drawing the Akuma's attention to him." She lifted his arm, "Everybody, give it up for the local hero of the day: Miles Morales!"

Nino seemed to agree with her (or seeing Gab fall flat on his ass brought him so much joy) and started cheering the loudest. Pretty soon, the whole room started cheering and chanting his name. Even Chat Noir joined in, much to Miles's dismay. Miles felt embarrassed with all the attention, and Ladybug seemed to notice this. "Do you have the object that holds the Akuma?" She asked.

Miles nodded, tossing the book to Chat Noir, "It was the first I grabbed when I knocked him out."

"Thanks. This book was long overdue." When Chat activated his Cataclysm, Miles forced himself not to flinch or step back due to his spider-sense. But he calmed down as the book crumbled to nothing, and the Akuma flew out of it. One miracle cure later, and everyone and everything that got captured returned. Once Miles felt that his bag was back on his shoulders, he finally relaxed. Everything went back to normal.

Well, almost everything...

"Hey, uh, isn't Gab supposed to wake up by now?" Miles asked, pointing at the still-unconscious and deakumatized Gabriel. Okay, seriously, how hard did I hit him?

Ladybug shrugged, "Usually. But I guess purifying the Akuma doesn't do anything when the person's unconscious."

Chat Noir picked up Gabriel's body, "I'll take him back home." He was about to leave when he glanced over his shoulder at Miles, giving a smile. "Keep up the good work."

He left, and Miles could start feeling the people's gazes on him. He knew people would bombard him with questions, but he felt his headache returning, and he just wanted to sleep it off.

"Well, after all that excitement, you probably want to make sure your parents know you're safe, right?" Ladybug asked, holding her hand out, "Do you need a lift?"

Miles blinked. Was she giving him an out?

He'd be an idiot not to take it. "Yes, please." He waved goodbye to the others and got on Ladybug's back.

Yeah, this definitely feels weird when I'm not the one swinging. Miles thought.

Later...

The ride to Miles's grandfather's place was uncomfortably silent. Marinette thought he would try to start a conversion or, at the very least, comment on The Collector fiasco, but he didn't. And she couldn't exactly talk to him like she usually would if she wasn't acting as Ladybug.

Maybe I should've been the one to take Gabriel back home.At least that way, she would return to Socqueline's workshop in time.

"Here's fine." He said.

Marinette dropped down to the alley Miles was pointing at. Huh... we're right near MasterFu's place. She realized. Confused, she asked, "Why here? Wouldn't dropping you off at your house be better?"

Miles, all of a sudden, looked panicked, "Uh- yeah. It's just my granddad. He doesn't like when people are near his home."

When Marinette gave him a confused expression, he beckoned her to come closer. "My old man was a bit of a hermit back in his teen years and thinks he's still in them. You know how that is."

The situation was different, Marinette understood. "Yeah, I get it. My grandfather was stubbornly old-fashioned. It was a lot to handle."

"I hear that," Miles nodded, "Sometimes the elderly are wise; other times they're a handful."

The two shared a chuckle until Marinette remembered she was Ladybug at the moment. "Listen, what you did today was brave. While I thank you for stopping the situation from getting worse, next time, try and leave it to the professionals."

When she was going to leave it at that, Miles said, "I'll try, but if I see someone who needs help and the 'professionals' aren't around at the time, I'm not just gonna run and hide when I can help."

Marinette decided the fact that she could hear the air quotes. "Well, you can't just throw random objects at Akumas and hope for the same result," Marinette said, "It worked out well today, but you might not be so lucky next time."

"I know that," Miles scoffed, "But I'm still going to help where I can."

Feeling a sense of pride in Miles, Marinette smiled. "I'm not reprimanding you; I'm just giving you a warning," She said, "But I'm glad that there are regular people who still help others out of the goodness of their own hearts out there like you that still exist. Bug out!"

Fling herself into the air, Marinette wondered what kind of excuse she'll have to say to Alya.

Chapter 15: Issue 14 (A New Face-to-Face)

Chapter Text

Friday, April 19

Evening, in an undisclosed location...

Alya put the last finishing touches on the lights and her camera equipment, moving them to a specific angle to face the two chairs. The snacks and drinks she prepared sat in the middle of the chairs, varying from macarons and chouquettes from the bakery with juice beside them.

Okay, everything looks good... The clock on her phone read 10:26. Four more minutes. All that's left to do now is wait. She thought, munching on a macaron. Remember, no asking about identity. Just about where he came from and where he got his powers.

All the stuff Alya had prepared was a bit last minute, so she had to practically beg her parents to let her out for the weekend and sacrifice her tablet to the twins for the rest of the month. She was most definitely not going to see that tablet intact again.

But it'll be worth it.

Alya heard a metal groaning, turned, and saw that one of the lights would fall over. She knew she wouldn't make it time to catch it, but she tried anyway. However, Nora appeared seamlessly out of nowhere and grabbed it before it hit the ground.

Yes, while Alya's parents did allow her to go out tonight, it was under the condition that she brought Nora with her. Which she begrudgingly agreed to.

"You need to be more careful with your stuff," Nora said, putting the lamp back in place. "Mom and Dad aren't going to buy you another one if you break it."

"They won't have to because I brought all this with my own money." Alya argued.

Nora grinned, "And how'd you get those discounts on this stuff again? Oh, that's right, our parents paid for half of it because you didn't check to see how much all this would be worth."

In instances like these, Alya had to remind herself that smacking her sister, who is a professional kickboxer, upside the head wasn't such a good idea. But damn, it'd be so satisfying.

Alya took a breath and shrugged, "Whatever. Could you just... wait outside, please?"

"Not happening," Nora scoffed, "Do I have to remind you that you and your boyfriend were almost mugged a few days ago? You really think Mom and Dad would just let you go out by yourself after that?"

"Keyword, 'almost.'" Alya groaned.

"That doesn't make it any better!"

Alya rolled her eyes, "Look, all they did was hold us up at gunpoint; we weren't hurt. Spider-Man saved us in the end, and we got to keep our stuff."

Nora pouted, "I still can't believe you kids got to freakin' meet Spidy and didn't get his autograph."

It came to the surprise of absolutely no one that Nora became a big fan of Spider-Man like how Alya was for Ladybug. The kickboxer somehow managed to redecorate parts of her room with Spider-Man merch. The only surprising thing was the fact that she managed to get all that merchandise in four days. Toy-making companies could pump out new superhero merchandise at such a fast pace.

Which was impressive.

And a little concerning.

"But that's not the point," Nora plopped down onto one of the chairs, her expression turning serious. "While I'm glad Spider-Man saved the two of you, none of that would've happened if you didn't lie about where you were going."

"I-I didn't lie. I just- I told part of the story."

The look on her sister's face was that of someone who had a full-functioning bullsh*t detector, knew when someone was full of sh*t, and was sick of it. "YOU TOLD THEM YOU WERE GOING OVER TO BAGUETTE'S HOUSE TO STUDY! So you can imagine the shock when we got a call from the police saying that you and Cappy were involved in a mugging in Barbès-Rochechouart, the most dangerous part of Paris! How is any of that part of your 'going over to study' story?!"

Alya couldn't look her sister, who was towering over her, waiting for an answer, in the eye. "T-technically, I did kinda study over at Marinettes' via phone call," She stammered, "So, I didn't e-exactly lie; I just told part of an incomplete story..."

The silence between the two sisters was so thick that it could be cut with a dull knife. Nora's bullsh*t detector look intensified before becoming stark neutral, and she started grabbing the equipment.

"W-what the hell are you doing?!" Alya tried to grab the makeshift boompole from Nora's hands, but due to the older sister lifting her arms to keep it out of reach and the height difference between them, Alya did a little hop to retrieve the boompole. Sadly, to no avail.

"If you're going to keep lying to me, we're leaving." Nora huffed, going for the camera.

Alya managed to block her, "I didn't lie! I just said-"

"That you told part of the story, I heard," Nora set the boompole down against the chair and squatted down to Alya's eye level, "But here's the thing; you're no idiot. You wouldn't just go into the dangerous part of town in the middle of the night without a reason. And I want to know what that reason is."

Nora stood upright and folded her arms. "Now, you can tell me outright, or we can pack up and leave."

Feeling her pride taking a hit after being analyzed and doubted made Alya angry, causing her to double down on her lie. "We already told you guys the reason! We just wanted to see what parts of Paris looked like at night! That's it!"

"Really?" Nora's brow twitched, "Because I ran past your boyfriend and his pals on my afternoon jog on Thursday. And I overheard him say that you two were scouting some out couple spots for Valentine's Day. Even though Valentine's Day was a few months ago."

...sh*t.Alya smacked her head mentally; with everything going on, she forgot to ensure that her and Nino's stories were straight. Granted, she didn't think someone would find out if the two were lying or not so quickly.

Still, Alya made this bed, and she was damn sure going to lie in it.

"Look, what happened, happened! Like I said, we weren't hurt, so it's fine!"

"It's not fine! It shouldn't have happened in the first place! Which begs the question, why were you in Barbès-Rochechouart to begin with!?"

"What does it matter?! It's my life! I can decide what I do with it!"

"Not if that means risking your own life in the process! You might be smarter than the rest, but you can do the stupidest sh*t when no one's not looking!"

Feeling agitated, she was about to give a retort, but out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that the stand for the camera started to wobble a bit before one of the screws came loose, causing the camera to start falling.

It would have shattered into pieces if not for a familiar web line catching it and pulling it upward into the rafters. Following where the camera went, Alya found that Spider-Man was hanging upside down and started to descend slowly. "Hey," He said, "Just to put it out there, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop on your conversation; it was just getting heated, and I didn't know when to step in. Then I saw the camera, and I couldn't just let it fall and- uh..." He let go of the web strain, landed on the couch arm, and awkwardly handed over the camera. "Yeah... sorry."

Letting out a breath, Alya took the camera, checking for any damages. "It's fine." She sighed, feeling inclined to change the subject. Smiling, she asked, "So, what kept you?"

"There was a hold-up a few blocks from here, so I had to deal with that first." He said.

Alya grabbed the component that came loose from the camera stand and tried to put everything back in its proper spot. "Bet that was fun."

"As fun as one would ex... pect, uh, question; is your sister okay?"

Alya blinked before remembering that Nora was a big fan of anything spider-related even before the wall-crawler's debut, plus the literal Spider-Man standing a few feet away resulted in a slack-jawed Nora. It was almost like watching a tiger or some other hyperactive animal turn itself into a statue.

It would've been funny if it didn't look like the kickboxer stopped breathing.

Walking up to her, Alya waved her hand in her sister's face to get a reaction. When nothing happened, she tried saying her name next. The result was the same. So, Alya did the only sure-fire thing to get anyone to regain consciousness: clapping in front of their face and shouting the person's name.

"NORA!"

She jumped, recovering from her momentary shock and suddenly looking giddy, not registering that she called her by her name instead of 'Anansi.' "Yeah, yeah, sorry. It's just... that's Spider-Man. You're Spider-Man! And you're..." Nora's giddiness gave way to confusion, tilting her head slightly. "You... are much shorter than I thought you'd be up close."

Outwardly, Alya winced, giving a slight smile that came off as a grimace but still tried to appear calm.

Inwardly, however, was another story entirely.

Did she say that?! Please tell me she did not just say that! I mean, why?! What's the point?!

"Wait, how old are you?" She asked.

"Old enough," Spider-Man waved off the first comment, "Quick question: You wouldn't happen to be Nora 'Anansi' Césaire, would you?"

Nora blinked in surprise, "Y-you've seen my matches?"

"Only the most recent ones. That spinning back kick you landed on that one guy was phenomenal!" He exclaimed.

A touch of red hit Nora's cheek and muttered, "Spider-Man's a fan? Awesome..." She blinked, clearing her throat. "I mean, thanks. But I think spider powers are a step up from kickboxing, in my opinion."

"Well, you're half right," Spider-Man flipped off the couch, "See, you trained for weeks to have that kind of skill and experience. I fell head-first into the whole wall-crawling, swinging, and superstrength thing and had to figure everything out from there. Granted, I had help, but only two days worth."

"Months." Nora corrected, "I had to train for months, but thanks!"

A pit began to grow in Alya's stomach as the two continued their discussion like they had forgotten that she existed. Alya decided that letting the two continue talking to one another any longer was a bad idea. She didn't need Spider-Man to say anything unnecessary about that night.

"Well, first off, I just wanted to thank you for saving my sister that night," Nora said. "It means a lot to our family."

"It's not a big deal," Spider-Man replied. "I was just in the neighborhood. The same outcome would've happened if Lugares or Chat Noir were there."

"Still, I've got to at least say thanks," Nora said with a smile. Alya only ever saw that smile a few times when she was talking to her fans, how they said she was an inspiration to them. It fell away as she muttered, "When we got that phone call from the police, we were all so worried."

Alya knew that if she got caught, she would get in trouble. She made her peace with that. She also knew her family would be distraught if they noticed her gone. She made her peace with that as well.

At least, shethoughtshe made her peace with it. Seeing her parentsandNora, who, at the time, looked like she was about to burst into tears, made her feel incredibly awful.

Watching someone so strong start crying because of you was never a good feeling. But because of her, Nora almost did.

(Beeps of machinery and sobbing echoed through the light green and brown walls as her shoulder became wet with tears. Feeling numb and heartbroken, completely frozen. Though the room was hot due to the summer heat.)

Even after what happened, Alya made someone cry again.

"Hey, Spidey," Alya returned to reality, seeing Nora and Spider-Man still talking. "I was hoping you could answer a question that has been on my mind recently, and I can't get a solid answer from my baby sister, so I'm hoping you could." Nora suddenly dropped all niceties, and her face went serious. "How do you know Alya? I mean, when you got here, you two talked like you already knew each other. But that's impossible because this is basically your first time meeting. So..." She advanced closer, towering over him, "How exactly did you kids meet?"

Alya immediately began to panic because of course, OF COURSE Nora was still trying to fish for more information about the mugging, and if she couldn't strongarm the answer out of her or Nino. So, her next choice would be to try and get it out of Spider-Man.

And judging from how he backed up and hit the couch, that was gonna happen soon.

"U-uh... Well, we- uh, bumped into each other and talked?"

It was a question more than an appropriate response.

One that Nora was not buying.

Alya realized, however, that it was more or less what happened.

Thursday, April 18

Early evening, Alya's room...

Twitter has become a cesspool of useless information for that time being as Alya groans into her hands, feeling fed up for the night. Nothing exciting happened for the rest of the day, no Akumas or anything. And while that was good for Paris, it was terrible for the Ladyblog.

If anything was going to happen tonight, it's not like I can leave whenever now; I'm grounded. Alya leaned back in her chair. She was in her PJs, so she wouldn't have minded if she fell asleep then and there. Not only that, I missed my chance to ask Miles about what happened at The Hushcade.

It didn't make her happy that she had to hear about Miles knocking out The Collecter, A.K.A Gabriel Agreste from Lila, of all people in the class group chat. Alya didn't believe a word the little liar was saying, but with the added testimony of the other boys (sans Adrien) AND Nino, who made it sound like the most beautiful thing ever, it would’ve been stupid not to believe it. At least he got some excellent footage of the incident for her.

But for the rest of the day, Alya tried to get an interview or at least ask what happened from Miles' perspective. But, due to her not knowing where he lived and him ducking her phone calls, it was hard to get an official statement from him.

And it's not like Alya didn't try to text him after school; it's just that the dude wouldn't even answer his phone and was left on read.

But she wasn't insulted; these things just happen. Anyone who said otherwise was full of sh*t. There was always tomorrow.

With a sigh, Alya shut her computer off and prepared for bed. After trading good nights with her parents and Nora, Alya was about to hit the hay when she heard a knock on her balcony. Finally, some Rena Rouge action! She grinned, hopping out of bed. When she pulled back her curtains, she expected Ladybug or Chat Noir on her balcony. Instead, it was-

"Spider-Man?"

True enough, Spider-Man was currently perched on her balcony railing.

Alya stepped outside. "Uh... is everything okay?" She asked, "Did Ladybug send you or-"

"No, I, uh," Spider-Man rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I just wanted to ask if, uh... if that interview offer was still on the table."

While the last part was muttered, Alya more or less heard it. It was hard to keep the ecstatic smile off her face, "REAL- uh," She cleared her throat, realizing that she had raised her volume unconsciously. "Really? What, uh, changed?"

"Nothing much." He said, hopping off the railing and leaning against it. Something Alya noticed was that he started to fiddle with his suit sleeve. "I've just been considering what you said, and you're right. That Paris needs to know who's protecting them."

"Is that the only reason?"

"Well, what you said about wanting the truth no matter how ugly it is." He paused before adding, "Plus, what you said about people thriving on controversy put me on edge more than it should."

Alya nodded, "So, you want to get ahead of it? What, you worried people will start calling you a threat. Or better yet, a menace?" Despite his actions, the phrase sounded weirdly accurate, which felt wrong when she said it out loud.

But Spider-Man just laughed it off, sounding a bit sheepish for some reason. "I doubt it'll get that bad. So, when do you want to do it?"

After talking for a little more and agreeing that 8:30 p.m. would be an acceptable time, Spider-Man swung off, leaving Alya alone. As she closed the balcony door, she did a little dance to commemorate getting another interview with another superhero. If I somehow manage to get Chat Noir down the line, it'll be a hat trick!

But after she calmed down, she remembered that she was grounded for the foreseeable future, and convincing her parents to let her go out was going to be a hassle.

But Alya was determined to see this through. She just had to make some technical sacrifices.

Back in the present...

Looking back, Alya realized that getting one of her parents instead of Nora to come would've saved everyone involved the trouble. Sure, it would've been at the risk of embarrassment from her parents, but at least they wouldn't try to pry about what happened.

Groaning, Alya grabbed her sister by the shoulder to get her attention. "Nora, look, just... if you stop grilling the guy, I'll tell you everything, alright?"

Nora looked in between Alya and Spider-Man, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else at the moment, with cynical eyes before sighing. "Fine."

"Privately," Alya added.

Reluctantly, Nora followed Alya to the second floor. The building they were in had two floors; the bottom floor was the central staging for the interview. The top floor was an empty room with furniture covered in drapes and cobwebs.

"So," Nora started, "You wanted privacy, you got it. Now talk."

Alya rolled her eyes at her sister, showing how unimpressed she was at her sister's trying to establish some sort of authority. "Okay, so, yes, I did lie about going to Marinette's house to study-"

"I know that already," Nora remarked. "But what I really want to know is the why. So, why'd you lie?"

"I lied..." Alya paused, trying to figure out how to phrase the next part without getting yelled at, "Because if I told you guys that I was going to Barbès-Rochechouart to try and get an interview with Spider-Man, you guys would've said no. And the only reason he's here is because I went there. And you are not going to tell them about what I had to do."

"And why, in the hell, wouldn't I tell them?"

Alya felt a shark-like grow on her lips, "Because I can just pack up shop early, and you won't get your autograph that I know you want."

She took great satisfaction watching Nora go still and tried to rack her brain for a good counter. Nora was the strongest in the family, but Alya was the smarter one.

"But go ahead," Alya smugly commented, "Tell them. Be the good big sister. The good big sister without a Spider-Man autograph."

That seemed to be the final nail in the coffin as Nora sagged, groaning in defeat. "Fine. I won't tell Mom and Dad." She jabbed in finger in Alya's face, "But I better get that autograph, or I'm spilling secrets."

Having solved the problem of that night, the two went back down the stairs where Spider-Man was busy trying to play cat's cradle with his webs.

Keyword; tryas it looked like he was fumbling with his webbing. He stopped when he noticed the two, "Are we all good now?" He asked.

The two girls nodded, causing Spider-Man to let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank god 'cause I did NOT want to get in the middle of whatever you two had goin' on. Also, if you girls were hungry, I might have eaten most of the chouquettes and macarons." He said. "Hope you girls don't mind."

Alya zeroed in on the plate and what once had a plate full of macarons and chouquettes was reduced to three chouquettes. The macarons were gone completely.

Amazed, Nora asked, "How the hell-"

"I have a fast metabolism."

"We were only gone for a few seconds!" A flabbergasted Alya commented.

"I have a VERY fast metabolism."

Alya wanted to touch on the topic more but instead chose to get started.

It was almost showtime.

Meanwhile, at the Dupain-Cheng Residence

Tikki ate up the last remnants of a cookie Marinette got for her, sitting on the railing of her bed and eating up any left-over crumbs. The kwami watched from above as Marinette was at her desk, completing her science homework, her face twisted in displeasure. "Why did Ms. Mendeleiev need to give us homework on the weekend?" Marinette groaned, putting her completed work in her school bag.

Tikki drifted down to sit on top of her chosens' head. "At least you finished early. That way, you have the weekend to yourself."

"I guess. But I'm so tired, I just want to sleep. But I have patrol with Chat and Spider-Man at around 11:15. Ooh, I know," Marinette rubbed her eyes, looking like her sleepiness was trying to wrap around her like a thick blanket. She shook it off, sliding over to her computer. "I'll just refresh the browser until there's some news about Adrien."

"Didn't you see Adrien earlier today, though?" Tikki asked.

"Yeah," Marinette replied, not looking up from her screen. "But that was in the morning and afternoon. So, it doesn't count."

Feeling full on her fifth cookie, Tikki decided to nap until patrol. Marinette was occupied looking up new Adrien news, so Tikki should have time to do so. Finding a comfortable resting spot, Tikki grabbed a piece of fabric that Marinette had cut off and discarded and used as a pillow.

Aside from the occasional clicking from Marinette's computer, the night was surprisingly peaceful.

Until it wasn't.

Something caused Marinette to jump from her seat and wail in alarm like she just sat on a hot stone, which instantly caused Tikki to fly to her chosens' side. "What is it?! An Akuma?!"

"Worse, Tikki," Marinette turned the screen to Tikki, showing a stock photo of Gabriel Agreste with Buckingham Palace in the background.

{EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK AT THE ROYAL WEDDING CEREMONY GUEST LIST IN ENGLAND ON APRIL 20TH; PRINCE ALI, THE BOURGEOIS FAMILY, THE AGRESTE FAMILY, THE TSURUGI FAMILY...}; read the headline of the article.

"Adrien's leaving for England tomorrow!" Marinette began biting into a book out of worry and jealousy.

Tikki hovered closer to the screen and saw that the article went into more detail. "Marinette, it says he'll just be gone for the weekend. He'll be back on Monday." She pointed out.

"But Tikki, it says the Tsurugi family will be there. That means Kagami's going to be there. What if something happens at the wedding, and they become closer than before?!"

Tikki tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. She loved her chosen to death; she loved all her ladybugs, but Marinette was one of the ones Tikki would keep in her memory when the time came to pass on her miraculous, just like so many others before her.

And Tikki would make sure that her end was by her choice. Not by any outside force.

Not again.

Marinette whined, pulling out her phone. "I have to get the girls together to brainstorm a way to get my feelings across before he leaves!"

Tikki loved Marinette, but sometimes she can be a bit much. The kwami was about to convince Marinette to try and calm down when the computer let out a 'ping' sound, catching both of their attention.

"Oh, Alya's released a poll for something," Marinette said, clicking on the notification and showing the logo for the Ladyblog at the top of the page. As she scrolled down, the page showed five categories—what, when, where, why, and how.

"And she also released a livestream." She said, seeing a timer on the video slowly reaching zero.

1:01

1:00

0:59

"You know, Marinette," Tikki started, "Since the rest of your friends are asleep and Alya's working on the Ladyblog, maybe it would be best if you texted them in the morning."

Tikki watched as Marinette's face slowly went from conflicted to resigned as she decided. "I guess I can worry about Adrien tomorrow..." She sighed, deleting whatever she would send and pocketing the phone.

"Exactly," Tikki smiled brightly as she averted Marinette from making a rash decision in the heat of the moment.

Marinette stared at her computer screen before sitting back down. "Unrelated, I am curious what Alya's live streaming so late."

"But didn't you say you had patrol soon?" Tikki asked.

"Patrol's not until 11:15. And it's only..." Marinette glanced at the time, "10:32. I have plenty of time before then."

Tikki shrugged, getting herself comfortable on Marinettes' shoulder as the live stream timer ticked further.

0:31

0:30

People across Paris who were still awake tuned into the unexpected livestream.

0:02

0:01

0:00

As the timer hit zero, the screen briefly showed the Ladyblog logo before transitioning to Alya sitting in a red chair on the right.

"Hey there, peeps! This is Alya Césaire here with a surprise livestream to interview a surprise guest! He's been the hot topic of Paris for some time now, fighting crime and spinning webs. That's right, folks; here I have the one, the only, Spider-Man!"

The camera pans over to the left to an empty chair and the background. Spider-Man is then seen letting himself down on a web-line. He then let go and plops on the chair. He and Alya shook hands.

"Hey, Webbed Wonder. Thanks for joining us tonight."

"Thanks for having me! Was looking to take a break from swinging for a bit, and this seemed like the perfect thing to do to pass the time."

"Swinging safely, I hope."

The two shared a small laugh, and then Alya turned to the camera.

"So, here's how this will go; before the stream started, there was a poll for each question—what, when, where, why, and how. We'll be skipping the Who due to privacy reasons."

"Yeah. I'd like to keep my secret identity secret, thanks."

"What he said. Anyway, The specific question you guys want me to ask you guys can put in the comments. The highest-ranking question goes first, and the lowest goes last. And the order is..."

Alya pulled her phone out and smiled after a few seconds.

"'Where,' 'when,' 'what,' 'how', and 'why'."

"Well, you have the floor, Césaire. Ask away."

"Great! The first question the people want to know: Spider-Man, where did you come from before coming to Paris?"

"Well, I'm not sure how to say this, but..."

Spider-Man sat up from his chair.

"I'm... actually from another planet."

"Wait, REALLY?! You're from outer space?!"

"Yeeep. On my planet, there are more people like me, billions more. And my powers, which a lot of people think are awesome, are common on my planet."

"Wow... Freaky."

"Not really. If you look at it from a certain angle, Brooklyn's kinda like Paris in a way."

Alya's face does a doubletake before it goes deadpan. She facepalmed and goraned.

"You're from New York, which means you're from Earth."

"NYC, born and raised! I just did the 'from another planet' bit to see how fast you'd realize I was full of crap."

"Yeah, you're a real comedian. Bet you and Chat Noir get along swimmingly."

"Like peanut butter and jelly. But I make the better quips."

Meanwhile, at the Agreste mansion

Plagg continued to laugh at the current events unfolding and at Adrien's expense, who looked offended. The Space Alien joke was a 4/10 at best. It was the lady blogger's face that sent Plagg over the edge. The little jab at Adrien was just icing on the camembert.

Seeing the kid get upset after being called out for his terrible puns was pretty funny, too.

"Plagg. This isn't funny. Stop laughing." He said, looking like the picture-perfect image of a grumpy cat.

Plagg managed to calm down enough to respond. "B-but kid, is he wrong? I mean, don't get me wrong, you creak a good pun now and then. But you gotta admit, your quips could use some work."

"I make great quips!" Adrien said, trying and failing to keep a pun book out of the kwamis point of view.

"Sure you do, kid," Plagg patted Adrien's shoulder. The two stared at each other before Plagg was the first one to creak and burst out laughing again. He laughed even harder when Adrien started to pout.

"Let's just watch the stream already."

"Alright, next question! Spider-Man, when did you first move to Paris?"

"A few weeks ago. My parents thought visiting the most romantic and magical city on Earth would be nice. I don't think they knew the magical part would be taken so literally."

"Yeah, they don't tell you these things on the brochures at the airport. It helps to know that there are more heroes instead of the usual two."

"Three permanent heads are better than two, as they say. I think that's how the saying goes..."

"And that leads us to our third question: what's it like partnering up with Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"That's a little complicated, so I'll start with Chat. I already said he and I get along well, but also, he's like a best friend you have to work with on a group project; we get no work done, and he's just an all-around good time to hang with. Plus, he knows how to handle a staff."

"Bet you and him like to make trouble for Ladybug."

"Yeah, and this is the part where it gets complicated; you ever had that one irritating nanny from your childhood that would just nag at you for many stupid things?"

"D-did you just compare Ladybug to an annoying nanny?"

"If it smells like a duck. I am not sorry."

Back at the Dupain-Cheng Residence

Tikki watched Marinette out of the corner for any kind of reaction. The kwami tensed up, waiting for her chosen to have another outburst.

Surprisingly, that didn't happen.

Instead, Marinette continued to watch in silence with a blank stare.

"You're... pretty quiet, Marinette," Tikki remarked, feeling hopeful. Perhaps she wouldn't take the nanny comment so hard.

The kwami's hopes were dashed when Marinette calmly smiled, "No one plans a murder out loud, Tikki."

"Uh... o-okay, well, next question; how did you get your powers?"

"I was bitten by a radioactive spider."

A beat of silence passed between the two. Alya looked at the camera, or at least at the person operating the camera, as she leaned forward a little as if she was sending Spider-Man a silent command to elaborate.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing! I'm just waiting for the punchline."

"Oh no, this isn't a joke. I'm being 100% serious."

"Wait, wait, wait, so your powers literally came from a spider bite?"

"A RADIOACTIVE spider bite. The radioactive part's very important."

"I-I'm just— Was it a tarantula or a daddy-long-legs? ...Or was it a black widow?"

"I didn't ask it type; it was biting me!"

"Sorry, sorry, it's just... Did it hurt?"

"Oh no, I swatted the thing and went on my way."

"Alright, let me get this straight; this spider gave you your powers, and you just swatted it without checking what type it was. And you treated it like it was an everyday thing?"

"Pretty much."

"You-... I-I'm sorry, it still feels like you're messing with me. Are you messing with me?"

"Why is it such a hard concept to understand?! I was bitten by a spider! There's no joke!"

A cough could be heard behind the camera's point of view. They both turned their attention to the person operating the camera, and Alya put her hands up in mock surrender.

"Okay, final question for the night: why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you Spider-Man? You know, helping people. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm pretty sure a bunch of folks are grateful that you saved them, but why do any of that? Every Parisian knows that Ladybug and Chat Noir do what they do to try and stop HawkMoth. But what's your motive?"

"..."

"We can, uh... skip that one if you'd like."

"No, no, no, it fine. It's just..."

"Just... what?"

"...I had a... mentor figure who died while I was inexperienced with my powers. And then a day later... my... uncle died. Right in front of me."

"O-oh... I'm... I'm so sorry..."

"It was months ago. But my mentor followed a code: 'With great power comes great responsibility.' This means that if you have the ability to do something, make sure that you do it for the good of others. And if you can stop something bad from happening, do it."

Spider-Man leans forward and speaks the next part with conviction.

"So that's why I'm doing this. That's why I put on this costume. To make sure all the wives, husbands, sons, daughters, grandfathers, grandmothers, grandsons, granddaughters, nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles get to see their loved ones again. To make sure that what happened to me never happens to anyone else ever again."

Then Spider-Man is seen backflipping off the chair and swinging out of the window, leaving Alya in silence. She blinks and turns to the camera.

"A-and that was Spider-Man, everybody! Don't forget to follow the Ladyblog for more exciting news and- Nora, stop crying or I'm gonna start-"

The feed transitions into the Ladyblog logo.

Meanwhile, at the Agreste mansion

Gabriel pinched his nose and groaned, closing the now-ended live stream. The whole thing was a complete waste of time.

He had thought he could learn something significant about Spider-Man, something about him that he could use to take advantage of him and pit him against Ladybug and Chat Noir.

But except for finding out Spider-Man is from America, there was nothing Gabriel could use.

What a waste of time. Gabriel sneered, rolling his eyes at his 'Great responsibility' speech. He decided to use this opportunity to try and find someone to akumatize.

A knock on the office door.

"Enter." He said. Nathalie came in with a yellow envelope in her hands, a tense look plastered on her face. "What is it, Nathalie?" He asked.

Nathalie cleared her throat, handing the envelope to him. "This was found outside, addressed to you, sir."

He took the latter, inspecting it. The envelope itself was bland, with no sticker or a return address. Shaking it around a bit, it sounded like numerous pieces of content were in it. A small pit opened in his stomach. He felt apprehensive.

Why? It was just an envelope.

However, to Gabriel, it felt like something would change once he opened it.

Steeling himself, Gabriel tore open the envelope and dumped the contents on his desk.

He wished he hadn't. He wished he had thrown the whole damn thing away in its entirety.

What was in the envelope were numerous pictures. Pictures of Nathalie, Placide, even Adrien. The next set of photos was of one of his Akumas and an Amok flying out of his usual window. The last three pictures of Gabriel transforming into HawkMoth were papercliped together. A note with letters from different books and journals saying: 'IkNowWHo yOU aRe.'

Panic gripped Gabriel's heart with an iron fist. How?! They've been so careful. And with how these pictures were taken, whoever took them would have to be inside with him to take them.

So how-

"S-sir..." Nathalie shakingly picked up one of the photos and handed it to him. But judging from how pale she got, he almost didn't take the photo.

But he did, and the panic worsened.

Emilie.

It was a photo of Emilie.

And it wasn't some old, outdated picture of her, no, it showed her in her current state.

The panic slowly turned to red-hot rage. It was one thing having a third party discovering his identity, but another involving his wife, HIS FAMILY! And he had no way of finding out who sent them.

He was powerless for the second time in his life.

He balled his free hand into a fist, balled until his hand bled. Who did this?! Who found out?! WHO-

An alert came from his computer. He and Nathalie looked at each other, conversing in silent conversation. Gabriel walked to it and hit the button to see through the front door camera.

A man with gray hair in what appeared to be a black overcoat with blue outlines on the top of his sleeves and wore a blue eyepiece to complete his look. Gabriel could feel the man’s emotions. And what he felt was cruel satisfaction.

Gabriel immediately knew the man had something to do with the pictures. And he hated him.

The man looked into the camera and smirked. "Hello, Gabriel. Or would you prefer HawkMoth?" He asked condescendingly.

Nathalie gave him a shocked look, which Gabriel ignored.

"Why don’t you let me in? We need to talk."

Gabriel considered sending an Akumatized villain after the man but thought against it. There was no telling what the man would do with the amount of blackmail he had on him. Clicking his tongue, Gabriel let the man in. He then signaled Nathalie to open the front door for him.

"What’s your plan?" She asked, watching him transform and make his Akuma.

"I’m going to try and Akumatize him to see how much he knows about us." He made it fly into the top-left corner of the room and waited, feeling resigned to the next course of action. "And if he knows nothing else, we kill him."

With a grim but resolute look, Nathalie nodded and went to fetch their 'guest.'

A few seconds later, she and the man entered the atelier. Fully looking at him, Gabriel felt something off with the man. The older gentleman looked around, and when his eyes landed on Gabriel, he seemed disappointed.

"Now, Gabriel," He tsked, not noticing the Akuma slowly fluttering closer behind him. "We already established that I know your identity. Why bother with the mask?"

Gabriel shrugged, "Let's call it insurance." The Akuma was close.Just a little more and-

The blue outlines on the man's sleeves opened up and rotated to his Akuma, and a sharp pain shot through Gabriel's head.

He felt the Akuma die. He vaporized it. Gabriel wasn't expecting him to do that.

"Now, that's no way to treat your guest, is it?" The man grinned.

Nathalie moved to strike him but stopped when the man had a shoulder cannon materialize out of his coat. He side-eyed Nathalie as his smile grew.

A tense moment passed between the three. Neither of them made a move. The only thing that could be heard was the shoulder cannon charging up.

The supposed blackmailer himself was the first to break as he turned the cannon on the photos and shot them. All that was left was a pile of ash.

Gabriel couldn't keep the surprise and disbelief off his face. Why would he collect that much blackmail just to destroy it?

"I didn't come here for a fight," The man put his hands up in mock surrender. "I came to form a partnership."

Gabriel relaxed a bit but remained on guard and signaled Nathalie to stand down. She nodded and walked back to his side. "Who are you?" Gabriel asked, keeping the sharp end of his cane raised.

"Ah, where are my manners?" The man did a little bow. "My name is Phineas Mason, The Tinkerer."

Tinkerer?Gabriel glanced at Nathalie, who gave a little shrug. "Well, what do you want?" He asked.

"As I said," Tinkerer continued. "I want to form a partnership. See, we have a bit of an infestation of the ladybugs, cats, and... spiders problem."

When he said that, Gabriel could feel the animosity and rage roll off the Tinkerer in waves. He and the Spider-Man have history it seems.

"And why would we work together?" Nathalie spoke up, looking displeased.

Tinkerer glared, "In the past nine months since you two started this little operation, have you ever once come close to getting Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous and succeeding?" When neither Nathalie nor Gabriel answered, Tinkerer sneered. "Thought as much."

"And how close have you come to killing Spider-Man and succeeding?" Gabriel shot back, feeling satisfaction when the grin was knocked off Tinkerer's face.

Tinkerer took a moment before saying. "Not close enough, it seems. He's... slippery. And nuisance. To you, too, I presume?"

A similar feeling of hatred came over Gabriel. "While Ladybug and Chat Noir are infuriating to deal with, Spider-Man is becoming an ever-growing thorn in my side."

"That is why we must band together and strike while we can," Tinkerer emphasized. "Me and him have history, so I'm an expert in dealing with him."

Gabriel cautiously stepped forward til he was in the center of the room. "Even if we agree to this, what would we get in return?"

"Well," Tinkerer tapped something on his wrist and pulled out a hologram of different schematics of various weapons: A Matter Phase Shifter, Anti-Gravity Guns, and a 'Shock Gauntlet.' Extraordinary... Gabriel thought. "Once I find the right materials, I'll distribute these weapons across Paris, and you two will be the first to have them. At a discount price, of course."

"You can make all these?" An astonished Nathalie asked. Gabriel saw her eyeing something called a 'Leap Bracers.'

"Of course I can, my dear," Tinkerer said with a smirk, making Nathalie glare at the man but not affecting him in the slightest. "My name is the Tinkerer. With the right funds, of course."

"Why work with us?" Gabriel took a step towards the man til the two were face-to-face. "Don't misunderstand; it sounds like a good deal, and I can see why you came to us with the funds issue. But other than that, what do you hope we can do for you?"

Tinkerer's smirk slowly fell, replacing it with a solemn expression. An expression Gabriel was all too familiar with. He felt longing resonating off of Tinkerer. "I give you these weapons and help you with Ladybug and Chat Noir, and help me kill Spider-Man and in finding someone." Tinkerer stared at Gabriel. "A woman."

Something clicked in Gabriel's brain. This Tinkerer, this Phineas Mason. He and Gabriel were the same in a sense. They both missed the women they loved dearly. Phineas's was missing while Gabriel's was in a coma.

He felt a newfound respect for Phineas. Gabriel didn't know if he could be trusted, but that was for a later bridge to burn.

Nathalie gestured Gabriel over for a private conversion. "What're you going to do, sir?" She asked. "You know I'd follow you whatever your answer is."

She would, wouldn't she?

He came to a decision.

Walking back to Phineas, Gabriel held out his hand, grinning from ear to ear. "Well, Tinkerer, let's hope this partnership of yours turns out to be everything you hoped."

Phineas blinked at him before matching that same smile. "May we emerge victorious, HawkMoth."

And with just a few words, an alliance between Paris's Puppeteer of Emotions and another New York's Technological Overlord was formed.

Also, here's a piece of art I had commissioned for:

Give the person who made the artwork a follow on their Tumblr here!