Miraculous Fanfiction: What if?

Ladybug swung through Paris' afternoon breeze after another miraculous crisis. Her earring beeped a few times, reminding Marinette that she had a very short time before the miraculous' magic wore off and she becomes plain old Marinette. Spotting a seemingly empty alleyway, she landed in-between the two old buildings swiftly and gracefully.

She took a quick look around, and after determining the cost is clear calls, "Spots off!"

Her disguise dropped, and Tikki landed in her hands. Marinette pulled out a macaroon from her bag and handed it to her qwami.

But Tikki's eyes weren't focused on Marinette nor the macaroon.

Marinette followed Tikki's gaze.

Standing behind her, wide eyed, was most of her classmates from school.

Marinette's mouth dropped open and she hid Tikki behind her back.

But it was too late. They had already seen her de-transform.

She laughed nervously. "Ta-da...?"

Her classmates stared blankly.

Marinette tried to think of a lie to cover up her mistake, though the only thing that came to mind is that it was an illusion. But she couldn't say that; Lila happened to be standing right in front of her. As was Rena Rouge.

Oh...Alya.

Her face showed pure shock. Marinette hoped she wouldn't hate her for keeping the truth for so long, but there were bigger problems right now.

Something clicked in Marinette's mind.

This was the surprise party! The one she had forgotten all about! That's why she hadn't seen them when she dropped into the alleyway. They were hiding. To surprise...

Adrien.

Luckily, Adrien was no where to be seen.

Unfortunately, though, everyone had been waiting with their cameras - recording - to get his reaction.

They had taped the entire thing.

For the life of her, Marinette couldn't come up with a lie. Nothing would fix this.

She took a deep breath, summoning all her Ladybug courage.

"Um...I know that this may seem a little...not right. But what you just saw was," she hesitated. No one knew her identity but Master Fu. And he was the one that had given her her secret identity.

"Real," she finished.

Everyone's faces hung there, as if frozen in time. They all shared the same expression - a mix of shock, doubt, and awe.

Finally, someone in the back said, "It's probably just a trick. Very funny, Marinette."

Marinette silently hoped they would all believe that.

But only a few nodded their heads in agreement.

"To be honest, I wish I could wipe the last five minutes from all of your minds. But, I can't. So, I'm going to confiscate your phones and delete any evidence, and we'll go from there."

No one nodded. Or even acknowledged her comment.

She sighed a long and heavy sigh.

Turning her body away from her class, she faced Tikki.

Tikki's face revealed no surprise.

"Tikki!" Marinette whispered.

"Yes?"

"What do you mean 'yes'? They just - I - what...ugggh," Marinette groaned.

"Your handling it fine, Marinette. Just delete their videos and give them 'the talk'", she chuckled.

Marinette had no idea how Tikki could laugh at a time like this.

Just a few minutes ago, she had been pretending not to hear Cat Noir's flirts, and he'd finally said goodbye. Then she was leaping through the air joyously, not a care in the world - besides Halk Moth, of course.

A hand on her shoulder jolted her from her thoughts.

She flung around, reaching for her yoyo, only to remember it wasn't there.

Alya. It was Alya.

"Marinette..." She trailed off.

Marinette could see the surprise in Alya's eyes. More like shock, actually.

She whispered, "Not now, Alya. I understand how your feeling, but we'll talk later."

Reluctantly, Alya nodded.

"Thanks." Marinette didn't know how she ended up with such a good friend. Who actually lived double as a superhero, too.

She faced her friends.

"Okay, cell phones."

No one obliged.

Marinette raised an eyebrow.

No one moved.

"Do I have to whip the yoyo out?"

She ended going down the line of out held phones.

She reached Nino. "Dude... unexpected."

Marinette nodded. "I know."

Finally, she stood in front of Kim. He had his cell phone protectively in his pocket.

"Kim? Phone, please?"

"Why should I give you my phone?"

"Because this is top secret. No one can know. Were you recording?"

"Yep," he said proudly.

"So..." Marinette held her hand out expectantly.

Kim scoffed. "How do I know that your really Ladybug? You could just be playing with us." He turned to everyone else. "Come on, guys. It's really obvious."

Marinette ground her teeth.

Alya stepped up. "Marinette doesn't lie, Kim. You know that. Just give her the stupid phone."

Marinette smiled gratefully at Alya.

Kim smirked. "Your probably in on it too. This is all a joke. You guys are ridiculous."

Alya scowled at him.

Before a fight could start, Marinette jumped in.

"Guys, calm down. Listen. I wouldn't lie about something like this. I wasn't even planning on telling anyone today. But, if you still want proof..."

Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse.

"This is Tikki." Marinette noticed a few people step back, while others inched closer for a better look.

"She's my qwami. Provides all the magic-y stuff."

Tikki waved. "Hello!"

Weird. Tikki didn't even seem upset about Marinette's mistake.

Someone could easily post one of the videos.

Marinette surveyed the area.

The class stood around Tikki, but not everyone was there.

In the corner, Chloe stood, her phone still recording. Marinette internally kicked herself. She had to get Chloe's phone!

"Chloe! Stop recording."

Chloe turned the camera from Tikki (who couldn't be caught on camera) to Marinette. Her eyes were wide, as if she couldn't believe her idol was actually Marinette, the person that allowed her to use her miraculous.

Before Marinette could confront Chloe, her friends surrounded her.

"Will you transform?"

"How far does your yoyo extend?"

"Can I get a selfie?"

"Are you and Cat Noir a thing?"

The last one caught Marinette of guard. She glared at the crowd.

"GUYS!" She didn't have time to answer their questions or take selfies.

Everyone backed away at her sudden outburst.

Perfect opening. She dashed at the spot where she had last seen Chloe.

Landing a tad bit too far to the left, she pulled herself up and brushed off the dirt.

Where was that girl?

"Listen. I don't want to be mean, or sound stuck up, but you guys can't tell anybody. No one can know. It would endanger you, your families, my family, and me - as Marinette, that is. So this all stays between us. No talking about it when you're with each other, and especially not with me. Everyone understand?"

After a moment everyone either bobbed their heads up and down, or muttered a short "yes".

"Thank you. It's really important that you never speak of this again, okay?"

Once again, everyone agreed.

"Good. Now delete all the videos from your phones."

She handed them back, and watched as everyone deleted the priceless videos and pictures.

Everyone. Except...

Marinette sucked in a sharp breath.

Chloe.

She frantically ran around the alleyway searching for Chloe.

But she was nowhere to be found.

"Chloe?"

No answer.

Tikki floated up beside her. "Everything alright, Marinette?"

"No. Chloe has a video of the whole thing and I can't find her!"

Tikki...almost looked pleased. "Marinette. You deal with Hawkmoth's akumatized victims everyday. I'm sure you can find Chloe."

"I know, Tikki. It's just - if that video gets out...I don't even want to imagine the possibilities."

Tikki nodded.

Marinette dashed out of the alleyway, Tikki in close pursuit.

There she was.

Phone in hand.

"Chloe, no!"

She lunged for the phone right before Chloe clicked a few buttons.

She landed on her back with the phone securely in her hand.

Please please please. She silently begged for the screen to show a cat dancing or a hamster nibbling someone's toe.

But when she pulled the phone up to her face, she saw big fat letters that read:

FILE UPLOADED

"What did you do, Chloe?" Marinette stiffened. Chloe was the mayor's daughter. She had access to...everything!

"I uploaded it. Duh." Chloe gave Marinette that obviously look.

"Chloe, I'm gonna..." She trailed off, trying everything to take back the upload, but to no avail.

Alya came up behind Marinette. "Everything okay, girl?"

Marinette didn't respond, just stared at the phone sitting in her hand.

"Oh...oh," Alya said as she came to an understanding.

"This is bad. This is really, really bad. Chloe, is there any way we can delete the upload before anyone can see it?"

"Uh, no. Why would you want to? I mean, everyone knows that I'm Queen Bee. What's the problem with that?"

Marinette took a shaky breath. "Do you even count how many times an Akuma has targeted you? Or how many times an akumatized victim has targeted you? It's different Chloe."

Chloe's expression showed mostly no emotion. But Marinette saw a bit of regret push through.

"But you're––you're Ladybug! Everybody loves you! Why wouldn't you want everyone to know who you are all the time?"

Marinette took another deep breath. Then she put a hand on Chloe's shoulder. "This could put my family in danger. They don't have the same means of protection as your parents do, and that makes me so much more vulnerable to Halk Moth."

"Oh. I'm sorry Marinette. I actually thought I was doing you a favor."

Marinette did a double take. Chloe? Apologizing? Trying to do someone a favor? Maybe there was a heart in there. Really, really deep down.

"It's okay. It's not your fault. I should've been more careful. But that's not what's important right now. Where did you send the video?"

Chloe's eyes flashed with guilt.

Before she could respond, Alya called Marinette's name.

"What's the problem?" She asked as she approached Alya's position.

"Uh...I think you should see for yourself. Oh and....I CANT BELIEVE THAT YOU'RE LADYBUG!"

Marinette smiled at Alya, because she wasn't mad or upset. She was happy. Excited. The person she had been blogging about since it began was actually her best friend.

But her smile dropped when she walked further away from her friends and saw the closest digital billboard.

It read:

LADYBUG'S IDENTITY REVEALED!

A picture below depicted Marinette in a school photo, smiling, and to the right of it, Ladybug, waving.

To the left of the words and photos, Chloe's video was replaying over and over.

Marinette facepalmed and slid down to the floor, a wall to her back.

This was not good.