The Miraculous Spiderman Series

His luck was just getting better and better in its typical Parker fashion. Ladybug stood, waiting for his answer, and Peter hadn’t a single clue what to tell her.

“You can’t have Peter,” he decided, shifting his stance slightly, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You think I want to put him directly in harm’s way?” Ladybug said. “I don’t, I really don’t, but we’ve got no other choice.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about the danger,” Peter said dismissively, waving a hand through the air. “But Peter and I can’t be in the same place at the same time. He has to be paying attention while I’m suited up. It’s his job, and it’s part of protocol.” He was sure that if either Marinette or Adrien took longer than two seconds to think his story through, they’d see straight through his bullshit, but they didn’t, so his identity remained secure.

“You can’t break protocol? Not even now?” Ladybug pleaded.

“I can’t break protocol. But I can get you Peter,” he decided. “Once he’s here though, I won’t be able to help you, so make sure this is what you want.”

“I’m sure. Just get me Peter as fast as possible.”

And he did. Spiderman swung a few houses away, dropping down into an alley and shedding his suit, back to Peter once more. From there he booked it back to where Ladybug was anxiously waiting, eyes glued to the Eiffel Tower in the near distance.

“Spiderman said you needed my help?” Peter feigned being out of breath as he skidded to a stop in front of her. She turned to him, a solemn expression on her face. Clearly she thought this mysterious ‘power’ was going to either a) kill him or b) turn him into an enemy, and Peter couldn’t wait to prove her wrong. Not that he was that overly confident, but he knew what he was capable of as a person. If no one had managed to kill him in the past, he was fairly certain that whatever she had up her sleeve wasn’t going to break that streak.

“Peter, I’m sorry, but I’ve-”

“Yes, let’s skip the dramatics, I know Chat Noir is holding off two villains up there, just tell me what you need me to do.” That seemed to snap her out of it, and she reached into her yoyo, pulling out a familiar little black and red box.

“This is for you,” she held it out to him. Oh hell no.

“Oh no, I can’t take that thing,” Peter held his hands up, backing away slightly as the box practically whispered to him. “It’s trying to pull me in, I can feel it.” Temptation and evil were lovers, forged from the same hellfire, and Peter was definitely on the hot seat now.

“That’s because it’s meant for you,” Ladybug said, and before he could stop her, she opened the lid to the box.

A harmless ruby circle sat on a black cushion, winking up at him in the sun. It looked like a bracelet, ornate and beautifully made, but he didn’t want to take it. Not in the slightest.

However, he didn’t have time to refuse, as a ball of light rose up out of the box, growing brighter. “Ladybug!” He called. It was getting so bright he couldn’t see. Like a bomb that was about to go off.

“This doesn’t usually happen!” She said back as the ball floated towards Peter. “Where’s the kwami?” That was when the light ball exploded. It was silent, but the flash was so bright Peter was sure half the city had seen it. And in its place now floated a tiny being, not unlike Tikki.

“Oh my gosh, hi!” It had a tiny ash-brown body, massive eyes, and a fiery orange head. That wasn’t the only fiery thing about it, though. A set of wings were spread out behind it, the same colour as flames. A matching plume sat on the top of its head,  an orange gem placed where the plume met its head at the front. Long grey tail feathers tickled Peter’s hand as he reached out towards it.

“What are you supposed to be?” He asked and the kwami let out a little laugh.

“I’m Suluu! I’m a phoenix kwami!”

“A phoenix?” He looked at Ladybug, who’s jaw was hanging open as she looked at them. Peter realized that where his hand had connected with the kwami, it was glowing, small tongues of flame licking his hand. It didn’t hurt, and he didn’t withdraw it.

“Suluu will give you powers,” Ladybug stepped forwards to explain. “Once you suit up, you’ll have super strength and agility, rapid healing-”

So nothing new.

“-fire immunity, as well as whatever weapon your suit comes with.”

“You don’t know?” Peter asked.

“I’ve never seen it in action, because the phoenix miraculous is, well, dangerous.” At Ladybug’s words, Suluu looked ashamed, their tiny eyes dropping to the ground. “It’s sat in a hidden basement for years, I have no idea how long it’s been since it was used. But now I need you to harness its power so we can help Chat Noir. You have to understand that there’s a high risk it will kill you.”

“Perfect,” Peter said, taking the ruby object. “Death is like, my middle name. I’m just kidding, it’s Benjamin. What is this?” He glanced at Suluu, who perked up immediately, obviously encouraged by his lack of concern.

“It’s an anklet! You just snap it around your ankle and then we’re good to go! Just say ‘Suluu, transform me!’”

“Wait!” Ladybug said as Peter snapped the anklet on. “Aren’t you going to tell him about the phoenix song?”

Suluu paused. “The phoenix song is your main power, the one that will help you defeat evil beyond the super strength and whatnot. It’s really difficult to master, but I trust you’ll know how to use it. It’s like a scream, but with intent. As soon as you get it right, you must select one of the powers to use.”

“What powers?” Peter asked, eyes darting between the kwami and Ladybug. He wasn’t really a singer, but he did have lots of practice screaming that would hopefully come in handy.

“Incineration, invulnerability, teleportation, shape-shifting, pyro-physiology, or healing tears,” Suluu explained. “But it’s not pleasant, no matter what you choose.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Peter said. “I think it’s time we got back to Chat, though. Suluu, transform me!”

Suluu spiralled down into the anklet, lighting it up with a fiery glow as tongues of flame spread outwards from it, racing their way up Peter’s body. It felt warm, almost borderline uncomfortable as the transformation raced through him, but then the phoenix’s powers melded with his own and suddenly it was like being able to see for the first time.

Everything came into focus as he blinked, the tongues of flame rolling off and away from him, the transformation complete. There was so much energy inside him, bottled up and ready for use. Usually his own heightened Spidey senses were distracting and difficult to tune out, but in his new suit, he didn’t need to tune them out. For once everything came together, and he truly felt superhuman. Suluu’s power made him whole, beyond any sense of completion he’d ever felt in life. It was like he’d been born for this purpose and this purpose alone.

Glancing in a nearby shop window, Peter found he didn’t even recognize himself. His usually pushed-back brown hair was now hanging in soft curtains with an added volume that definitely hadn’t existed previously. Like Ladybug and Chat Noir, his identity was protected by a small mask around his eyes, the colour scheme and shape the same as Suluu’s wings had been. An orange gem sat against his sternum, glowing faintly, almost like Tony’s arc reactor. The suit itself was a similar ash brown colour to Suluu’s body, seemingly underwhelming at first, but the added touches to it were far from boring or simple, all following a phoenix theme.

A large, white feather wrapped its way from one of his thighs across his chest, a bright red phoenix detail rested on the other thigh. Orange feathers adorned his shoulder like epaulets, and a brown leather harness crossed over his chest. His boots and gloves kept the ‘tongue of flame’ theme, giving onlookers the illusion that his limbs were being consumed by fire. The colours were vibrant, so much more than any Avenger or miraculous user he’d seen thus far. His weapon, a glowing gold lasso, was attached to the back of his harness. He could most definitely work with that.

His anklet had turned black, with flames burning brightly inside the tiny jewellery. Peter could assume it worked like Ladybug or Chat’s miraculous, and somehow it would count down to detransformation once he used his power.

“Let’s go…,” Ladybug started, then paused. “What do you want me to call you?”

Hell yeah, it was time to pick yet another superhero name. Peter barely had to think about it, remembering back to his Greek mythology phase. Phoenixes were like, a sun thing, right? So it only made sense to choose something related to the sun.

“Helios,” he decided. “Call me Helios. It sounds badass.”

Ladybug gave him a indecipherable look, readying her yoyo. “Time to go help Chat, Helios.”

Peter swung his glowing lasso, throwing it as far as he could. It took a bit more effort than his webs usually did, but other than that it was practically the same as he swung over rooftops, feet grazing the occasional shingle. Once he was close enough, he wrapped the lasso around the top of the Eiffel Tower, carefully calculating how to strike. Chat was still locked in battle with both the monster and Mayura as Ladybug joined him.

Here goes nothing, Peter thought, leaping off the building he stood atop, revelling the way his stomach swooped from the sheer drop. His legs stuck out in front of him, slamming into Mayura as he joined his team. She tumbled backwards, caught off guard, but Peter didn’t give her a chance to recover, whipping his rope towards her not even a second later. Aided by its magic, it wrapped around her, pulling her from the ground onto her knees.

“It burns,” she gasped, eyes widening as she looked up at Peter. “Who are you?”

“I’m Helios,” Peter smirked, yanking the rope tighter. “Are you gonna get rid of this monster, or do I have to do it myself?”

Mayura managed a laugh, although it quickly turned into a cough. Seemed as though she wasn’t in prime condition, but she managed another snarky comment. “Only I can destroy it.”

“We’ll see about that,” Peter said, turning to Ladybug and Chat, who were still doing their best to fight the monster. “What should I do with her?”

Ladybug glanced at him. “Any way you could keep her there?”

“No,” Peter replied. “As soon as I let go of this lasso, she’ll be able to get out.” Ladybug screwed up her face in concentration as the butterfly sent Chat flying.

“Ah!” Mayura yelled, writhing beneath the fiery lasso. It was starting to burn through her suit. “This shouldn’t be possible!”

“I suggest you kill the monster then,” Peter stepped closer to her, looking down. “Or else things are going to keep heating up for you.” She glared at him, her jaw giving a telltale flex, and he knew what was going to happen before it did. He leapt as she spun around, attempting to knock his feet out from underneath him. Instead, she missed, going flying across the ground, slamming into poor Chat who had just recovered from the beat down the butterfly had given him. Together, both Mayura and Chat went tumbling over the edge of the tower.

Peter hadn’t realized it, but Chat had activated his cataclysm, and when Mayura had knocked him, his hand had pressed into the tower. And now the whole Eiffel Tower was crumbling beneath Peter’s feet.

“Chat!” He called, releasing Mayura and letting her free-fall, grabbing his feline companion with his lasso. Grappling onto the top of the crumbling tower, Peter managed to slow his and Chat’s descent. Ladybug, however, had landed atop the butterfly, punching at whatever she could reach. Mayura was nowhere to be seen beneath the rubble as the tower died an undignified death, and Peter quickly released Chat before his rope could begin to burn him. He had no idea why the rope burned or what effects it would have on Mayura or her kwami once she detransformed, but he assumed they wouldn’t be good.

“This isn’t working, it’s just tiring us out,” Chat said, rubbing his temples. “Also, welcome to the team.”

“Thanks,” Peter said. “Can this monster even kill anyone? It seems kinda lame, not going to lie.”

“No clue. Don’t want to find out. You got any ideas?”  

“Yeah, I’ve got one. It’s called the phoenix song, and apparently it could kill me. Guess we’re about to find out?” Peter said casually. Chat looked at him, concerned, but Peter brushed it off. What had Suluu said? Scream and go from there?

Peter let out a scream, letting it rip through his throat, but nothing happened. All it served to do was throw Ladybug off, who had been doing quite well for herself atop the butterfly. At Peter’s scream, she glanced over and the sentimonster took the distraction as an opportunity to fling Ladybug from its back, sending her flying. Peter watched helplessly, hoping, praying, that Ladybug got her yoyo out in time.

She didn’t. Peter vaguely saw her crash, and heard Chat’s yell, but his vision was fogging as his suit got uncomfortably warm. It was burning, cooking him alive from the inside out. Everything was too hot, he couldn’t see, could barely breathe. Fire licked the corners of his vision, and something was bubbling up from inside him like he was about to throw up molten lava. Tears did their best to form, evaporating on the spot from the sheer heat of his body.

This was it, Peter decided. This stupid suit really was going to kill him. The heat was reaching a fever pitch, completely unbearable, and he screamed.

Only, it wasn’t a scream that came out. A single note, somehow made into the sound of a chorus of voices penetrated the air, and everything came to a stop. It was unlike anything Peter had ever heard, it was beautiful in a way that he couldn’t fully comprehend, but it dialled back the pain, ever so slightly. It was the phoenix song, he realized. Meaning he had to choose his power, and fast.

Invulnerability was looking pretty good at that moment, with the sheer amount of pain Peter was in, but it wouldn’t help them win. So he settled on the only other choice he could think of. Pyro-physiology. He yelled the words aloud, hoping with all his heart that it would work. Because his lungs were on fire and if it didn’t work, he might as well curl up and die just to escape from the sensation of torture.

Then something cold swept across his back. It took him a moment to realize that the heat was leaving him, coming together above his head. He dared look up, and the small amount of breath he still had quickly left him.

Because above his head, a giant phoenix made of pure fire flapped its wings. It was massive, much bigger than the butterfly, and it seemed to be waiting for Peter’s command. He didn’t know what he had expected from pyro-physiology, but it definitely hadn’t been this.

He glanced at Ladybug, who was being helped to her feet by Chat Noir. Both of them were staring in pure amazement at him. Though his joints were screaming at him from their near brush with death, Peter took a step towards the butterfly, thrusting his hands forwards. The blazing phoenix swept forwards, leaving a trail of small fires as its tail swept along the ground.

The monster screeched in response to the challenge, thrusting its stinger into the phoenix, but it caught fire, burning up. Peter’s eyes burned red hot as he watched, but he couldn’t loose concentration, not now, as he imitated hugging the air. The phoenix listened, wrapping the butterfly in its wings, burning it to a crisp. The screams of the sentimonster were torture to listen to as it reached the end of its life, and they cut through Peter’s brain like a meat cleaver.

Peter watched as it crumbled into a pile of ash, its screams still echoing in his mind as he crumpled to the ground. The phoenix flew back to him, stretching out to its full height, form stark against the grey sky. And with a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh air, Peter released it, letting the flames disperse into nothing.

“Helios!” Chat Noir was by his side in an instant, pressing his hand to Peter’s forehead. “Are you okay? Your skin feels like it’s on fire!”

“I’m fine,” Peter panted, his mouth dry. “Where’s Ladybug? Is she okay?”

“She was about to detransform, she’ll be back in a moment,” Chat said, sitting next to him as Peter peeled himself off the ground. “That was absolutely insane, what you did there.”

His miraculous beeped, and Peter glanced down at it, watching as another toe of the paw on his ring disappeared. “You better go,” Peter advised. “Keep the identity secret, all that.”

Chat gave him a grin. “You learn fast. Nice working with you, Helios.”

Just then Ladybug returned, holding a match box. She glanced between the two of them, then threw the match box in the air with a ‘miraculous ladybug!’. Peter noticed she was favouring her right side as she moved, giving them a quick ‘bien joué’.

“Are you okay, My Lady?” Chat sounded concerned, his gaze sweeping over her.

“I’ll be fine,” Ladybug said adamantly. “Maybe we should cancel patrol for tonight though.”

Chat pouted, but didn’t complain as he turned to leave. “Until next time, Helios.”

“Bye Chat,” Peter croaked as the magic ladybugs put out the fires around him and repaired the Eiffel Tower.

As soon as he was gone, Peter turned to Ladybug, unsurprised to see a disapproving frown on her face.

“I thought you were going to die,” she said, tone stern. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that we’d exhausted all our options,” Peter pointed out. “And it didn’t kill me, so there.”

“Came pretty close by the looks of it,” Ladybug said. Peter had nothing to say in response, instead glancing down at his miraculous. The flames were dimming, creeping down to the bottom half of the anklet. He assumed his transformation would fall as soon as they went out.

“Let’s go somewhere else,” Peter suggested. “I have a feeling the media will be here soon.”

Once they found a secluded alley, Peter released the transformation, feeling the magic leave his body. A very tired Suluu popped into his hands, looking up at Peter with adoring eyes.

“You did great,” Suluu managed before falling into a slumber.

“You looked terrifying,” Ladybug admitted. “Your eyes were literally on fire and then there was that giant fire bird, not to mention that the phoenix song is literally the most heartbreaking thing ever to hear. Peter, you’re the sweetest, but it was scary.”

“Sorry,” Peter said, leaning down to unclasp his anklet.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m supposed to give it back, aren’t I?” He asked, handing the jewellery out to her. It seemed to be the courteous thing to do, especially given that she’d hesitated so much to give it to him in the first place.

“You don’t feel like keeping it?” Ladybug looked amazed. And truth be told, as much as Peter had enjoyed the miraculous, he felt no desire to run off with it. That kind of power came with a painful price, one that he’d felt, and he didn’t know if he wanted to go through that again.

“Sure it’s cool, but I also felt like a rotisserie chicken,” Peter said, placing it in her palm, curling her fingers around it. Suluu disappeared as Peter relinquished control, presumably off to slumber somewhere now that Peter was no longer harnessing their power.

“I didn’t think you could do it,” Ladybug admitted. “I feel bad saying that, but I thought for sure you’d get corrupted by it or worse, be destroyed.”

“Well, I’ve always been a bit stronger than your average human,” Peter gave her a small pat on the shoulder as he walked around her. “It was a fun time, thanks Ladybug. If you ever need my help, you know where to find me.”

“I don’t, actually. You’re a difficult boy to track down, Peter.”

Peter paused, giving her one last look over his shoulder. “Help will always be given to those who deserve it. All you have to do is ask, and I’ll find you.”

He could feel her gaze on him as he exited the alley, feeling rather good about his life choices for once. Helios had been fun, but Spiderman was his destiny, no matter what Ladybug said. Although if what she’d said about needing the phoenix miraculous to defeat the Papillon was true, it might not be the last time he felt its burn.

Nathalie’s transformation crumbled before the Papillon’s very eyes. Mayura’s suit had been nearly destroyed by the time he’d managed to get her out from under the wreckage of the Eiffel Tower whilst the superheroes had been distracted by the sentimonster. It shouldn’t have been possible. Their suits were supposed to be indestructible. Yet something had caused the phoenix boy’s lasso to burn through Mayura and her kwami. And now the two of them had burn marks around their bodies, ones that he knew wouldn’t ever fully heal. Marks made by magic could only be reversed by more magic, and until he knew what powers the boy possessed he couldn’t find an antidote.  

Maybe it was because the miraculous was damaged, Gabriel reasoned as he carried the tired Nathalie to rest on the couch once he’d detransformed and exited his lair. But the phoenix miraculous was completely new territory. It hadn’t been in his book about the miraculous, and he’d never seen it in action. Although he’d heard the stories, all terrible, about what it could do while he’d travelled the world before Adrien was born.

In history, it had razed towns, killed thousands. It sounded like the perfect playing card to get Ladybug and Chat Noir to give him their miraculous. All he had to do was find the right time to akumatize the phoenix boy, and then they’d all be playing right into his hands. His recent failures didn’t faze him, as he felt like he was growing smarter with each blow. Already he’d tricked them into revealing their greatest weapon. And there was no way they knew its full potential.

The time was coming soon, and he would destroy Ladybug and Chat Noir and everything they loved, and they would be powerless to stop him. He would turn their greatest weapon into their greatest enemy, no matter what. All he had to do was wait for the perfect opportunity…

“Master Fu!” Marinette burst into the massage shop, skidding to a halt in front of the guardian. He had been napping, but at Marinette’s interruption he sat upright, sleep leaving his body instantly.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” he returned the greeting pleasantly. “What brings you here today?”

“You were right,” Marinette blurted, pulling out the box that held the phoenix miraculous. “About all of it.” She still couldn’t believe the way the day’s events had ended. Who would’ve thought that Peter was such a good fighter? Something about the sheer power he radiated, the way he stood his ground even as the phoenix’s pure energy tried to kill him; the sheer force of it had been like a slap across the face. Not to mention how he’d looked when he’d managed the phoenix song. How he’d done it, she had no idea, but it had been hauntingly beautiful, something she’d felt in her chest, yet the memory was so fleeting. Even as she thought about it, tried to remember the exact way it had sounded, the memory was grey, unwilling to let her experience it again. It was like the world had stopped, like nothing else had mattered other than his cry. It hadn’t been a happy one either. The sound was like a million hearts being broken, like the world was ending and it was one last painful note.

And the way he’d summoned the fire phoenix? Terrifying was the only word Marinette could think of that properly described the way he’d looked. His features had been helpless, contorted in pain, but his eyes had burned with the force of a thousand suns as the flames had rolled off his body and congealed above his head. Peter Parker had been an inferno, surrounded by flames yet somehow standing strong. She’d never be able to look at him without the memory of the intensity he’d radiated.

“He was able to wield the phoenix?” Master Fu asked, excitement mixed with apprehension written on his features. “Could he execute the phoenix song?”

“Yes and yes,” Marinette breathed. “And he returned it without prompting. I’d never noticed it before, but he feels…so powerful.”

Master Fu gave her a knowing look as he took the box from her. “What did he say?”

“He said he…felt like a rotisserie chicken. Then he said it was a ‘fun time’ and I knew where to find him if I ever needed help again. And I said I didn’t, because he’s difficult to track down, to which he said, ‘help is always given to those who deserve it’ and all I’d have to do was ask and he’d find me.”

“Peter Parker does have a knack for being in the right place at the right time, yes,” Master Fu said, tucking the phoenix miraculous into his pocket.

“You’re not putting it back in the basement?”

“Why should I?” Master Fu blinked. “It is not mine to have. This miraculous belongs to Peter Parker.”

“So should we be inviting him to do patrol with us or…?” Marinette was thoroughly confused as to how Peter fit into the equation.

“No,” he shook his head. “I doubt you will see him fight akumas either. If my assumptions about him are correct, and so far I’ve been right about all of them, he will dictate when you truly need the power. He is familiar with the burden of responsibility and not tempted by the concept of power. You know how rare that is to find? Even you fear losing your powers, and Chat fears losing the freedom that comes with his. It is not that Peter feels no attachment to it, it is simply that he listens to reason before he listens to fear.”

“With great power comes great responsibility,” Marinette quoted.

“What was that?” Master Fu looked at her curiously.

“Oh’s it’s just something Spiderman says. He’s Peter’s boss or something,” Marinette shrugged. “Kinda like his catchphrase.”

“Do you trust him? Spiderman, I mean.” Master Fu’s question caught her slightly off guard. Did she trust him? Marinette racked her brain, thinking of all the reasons not to trust Spidey, and there was a lot. She didn’t know him, he worked for the Avengers, people he had implied were flawed when it came to judgement, he knew both her and Chat Noir’s true identities, and he was constantly on side missions that he didn’t tell them about. But yes, she trusted him implicitly, in every sense of the word. Something about him was so open, she felt like she could tell him anything and not only would he listen, but he would tell her the truth and keep it between them.

“Yes,” she decided, making her answer final. “Should I not have?”

“No, I believe it is essential that you trust him if he is to provide the help you need. He is wise beyond his years, in a way that is learned, not taught.” Master Fu’s eyes held a sort of light Marinette had never seen before as he pondered something, scratching his chin.

“Would you like me to take Peter the miraculous?” Marinette offered.

Master Fu shook his head. “I will take it to him. I also would like to speak to him at some point, but I do not think it would be the most intelligent of moves at this moment. No doubt the Papillon is watching the city like a hawk. He will have realized the phoenix’s power, and assuredly knows that he cannot wield it. With that realization, he will try and turn Peter at any chance he gets.”

“But Peter can’t be akumatized.”

“But I do believe he can be threatened. Protect his identity with your life,” Master Fu turned away, heading over to pour himself a cup of tea. “That’s all I have to say today. Go home and rest, Ladybug.”

“Thank you, Master,” Marinette bowed her head as she left, opening her purse to look at Tikki. The kwami was resting after having transformed Marinette three times that day, all of the breaks in between having been very brief, just leaving enough time for Tikki to scarf down a macaron before she’d had to turn Marinette back into Ladybug.

She always felt guilty about it, having Tikki put in so much work just so Marinette could save Paris over and over again. It was difficult to properly thank the kwami for everything she put up with on a day to day basis, and Marinette wasn’t even sure if she’d be able to find the words even if she tried. So she decided the best thing she could do was let the kwami rest, carefully reaching around Tikki’s sleeping figure to pull out her superhero phone to check her messages. Unsurprisingly, a new text from Chat blinked up at her.

[ so do I get to know his name? ]

[ Afraid not, his identity is more important than most ]

[ okay, so can I know literally everyone else’s names? ]

Marinette rolled her eyes as she headed back home, giving a quick greeting to her parents and reassuring them that she hadn’t been anywhere near the Eiffel Tower that afternoon.

[ Very funny ]

[ I really am sorry that I have to keep secrets from you though ]

[ it’s fine, I just figured it didn’t hurt to try ]

[ I can see why you wouldn’t want anyone to know his identity ]

[ he’s totally badass and the papillon would totally try and use that against us ]

[ Precisely ]

If Chat was wondering where Spiderman had disappeared to, he didn’t show it. And Marinette was grateful. She didn’t know if she could make a convincing enough excuse to stop him from connecting the dots. There was, however, some information she could give Chat.

[ He’s going to be keeping that miraculous, btw ]

[ But he won’t be around for patrols or akuma fighting, apparently ]

[ what why not ]

[ he seems cool ]

[ also terrifying ]

[ Something about using his power sparingly ]

Marinette flopped down on her lounger, biting her lip as she crafted and deleted a few messages, trying to think of what to say to him. They had yet to acknowledge what had happened the other night, and she didn’t really want to be the one to bring it up.

[ hell I don’t blame him it looked painful ]

[ his eyeballs were literally on fire ]

Of course that was what Chat would fixate on.

[ also his suit is way cooler than mine :( ]  

[ You realize that our suits reflect our inner personalities and notion of what superheroes are, right? ]

[ do they really ]

Marinette thought that would’ve been more obvious to him. She knew that Chat Noir was a fan of anime and the likes, and his suit reflected that. Hers was far more simplistic, with nothing flashy to get in the way. Maybe not typical of a budding fashion designer, but there was a place for desire and a place for practicality.

[ So I’m assuming that Helios just has a more advanced idea of what a superhero looks like ]

[ It’s tough to ignore, and also pays a lot of homage to phoenixes throughout history ]

[ Perhaps he already had a base understanding of what phoenixes were when he transformed? ]

[ Either way, it seems like exactly the sort of suit you’d expect from someone with that much power, right? ]

[ I love it when you talk nerdy to me ]

[ but yeah it looks like he’s on fire all the time ]

[ the phoenix design on his thigh is so cool though I literally want one ]

[ of a cat ]

[ naturally ]

Marinette had to admit, Peter’s suit had flair. She could appreciate that from both a seamstress’s perspective as well as a superhero’s. The colouring of it was almost exactly like his kwami’s, and although the gem in his chest hadn’t been his idea, it had worked remarkably well with the rest of its suit. There had been no excessive ab display (she couldn’t say the same for Chat Noir when he’d once turned into Mister Bug), yet the suit casually hinted at how ripped the boy beneath it was. No wonder Peter had beat her at dodgeball.

It was with immense effort that she dragged herself to school the next morning. Her muscles had somehow gotten worse overnight, and she had to actively concentrate on walking as normally as possible. Of course, Alya noticed instantly.

“We’re walking funny today, huh?” She raised a brow suggestively. “In a good way or a bad way?”

If getting my ass beat by a giant butterfly is considered a ‘good way’ then sure, Marinette thought bitterly.

“Tried to come back in from my balcony, missed my bed, fell down the stairs leading to the loft,” she lied. Alya made a sympathetic ‘ow’ face.

“Bad way for sure then. But how do you miss that? The bed is literally right there!”

“I’m a certified klutz, I thought we established this on like, the first day we met.”

“I mean we did, but I thought that maybe you’d gotten better,” Alya twirled a lock of hair around her fingers.

“Yo Alya, Marinette,” Peter walked up to them, bumping elbows with Alya before giving Marinette a massive grin. He looked no worse for wear, his eyes still full of their usual sparkle.

“Where’s your cute friend?” Alya asked, looking around him for a sign of Adrien.

“He’s got a photo shoot all day, can you believe my luck?” Peter rubbed the back of his neck, a habit he’d picked up from Adrien, Marinette noticed.

Speaking of the blond angel, Marinette had been surprised to learn that she was more or less over him emotionally. Sure, she thought he was probably the most beautiful person on the face of the planet, but now that she had Chat to think about, Adrien paled in comparison. Especially when she thought about Chat’s lips on-

“Have something you’d like to share with the class?” Alya teased. Both her and Peter were staring at Marinette, who obviously had a dopey expression on her features and blush on her cheeks.

“Nothing!” She let out a high-pitched giggle she was almost certain did nothing to dispel their assumptions. “I was just thinking about math!”

“Math,” Peter deadpanned. “I also catch myself thinking about indefinite integrals every now and again.”

“A what?” Marinette blinked. She’d forgotten that Peter was smarter than her in almost every way. His joking exterior was easy to get lost in; it made you blind to the intelligence that shone in his brown eyes.

“Nothing,” he waved a hand dismissively.

“I forgot to thank you for getting me that Spidey interview,” Alya said, turning to Peter. “It was an opportunity of a lifetime, I can’t believe he agreed.”

“He enjoyed it, I think,” Peter said. “One of the main differences between a superhero and a supervillain is media portrayal and how the population views them, so I know he’s always glad to give the people a chance to get to know him.” He said everything so earnestly, as he always did. It was one of the things that made Peter seem so trustworthy, the way he said everything with so much conviction. People truly wanted to listen to him.

“Have you seen him without the mask?” Alya asked, hungry for information. “Is he as hot as I think he is?”

Peter shot Marinette an awkward look, tapping his fingers against his thigh. “He’s really nice. A really solid dude. Lots of muscles.”

“I knew it! He’s hot as fuck!” Alya pumped a fist in the air, prompting others in the courtyard to cast curious glances in her direction.

“Did I say that?” Peter asked Marinette. “I don’t seem to recall saying that anywhere in that sentence.”

“You don’t have to say it, I can just tell from the look on your face! You’ve been holding out on me, Peter.”

“I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that you have a boyfriend,” Peter cracked his neck. “As well as the fact that Spiderman repeatedly stated that he doesn’t have time for a relationship. And I can confirm. The dude barely sleeps with everything he’s got going on.”

That seemed to slow Alya down a bit. She paused, thinking. “Well if things ever get less busy for him, send him my way.”

“I won’t,” Peter smiled at her, stepping around her, clapping one arm on her back as he headed to class. It was the exact same way he’d stepped around Marinette after he’d returned the phoenix miraculous, leaving the alley like he could be a superhero any day of the week. And maybe he could. She didn’t know what the Stark internship entailed.

She watched him closely as the day progressed, seeing how he interacted with Nino and the others around him, now that she knew that he was something special and she hadn’t accidentally killed him. Peter seemed downright cheerful at almost every turn, unperturbed by Chloé’s mean remarks when he messed up attendre and assister. His ankle remained as bare as it always had, obviously without the phoenix miraculous. Marinette didn’t know when Master Fu was planning on turning it over to Peter, if he even let go of it at all.

“Marinette? Could you please repeat to the class what I just said?” Mme. Bustier tapped her fingers against her other arm, looking on with a displeased expression.

“Oh! Uh.” Marinette had not been paying attention whatsoever to the lesson. She wasn’t even sure if they were still in math.

“Of course Dupain-Cheng doesn’t know what she’s doing!” Chloé huffed. “She never pays attention.”

“Then surely you can explain to the class, Chloé?” Peter challenged, apparently deciding to put in his two cents.. “Since it seems you’re so concerned with paying attention.”

“I-! Ugh. You’re ridiculous, totally ridiculous,” Chloé rolled her eyes, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

“Madame Bustier, I can explain,” Peter seemed to have a good-natured relationship with the teacher, and she looked away from Marinette and Chloé, turning back to him with a smile. “The Nuremberg trials were a serious of thirteen trials between 1945 and 1949 held with the intent of holding Nazi war criminals responsible for their crimes. However, one can argue that they were unfair, given that some of the laws they violated were not actually internationally recognized war crimes at the time of violation. Not saying they weren’t awful things, but technically speaking, they weren’t illegal.”

“Thank you Peter! I’m glad to see someone’s been paying attention! The question, Marinette and Chloé, was ‘what were the Nuremberg trials?’. It would do you both some good to work on your focusing skills.”

Peter shot Marinette a grin over his shoulder before turning back to his tablet. It was open to a comic book that he’d obviously been reading during the class. How did that boy do it?

“Can I hang out with you at lunch?” Peter asked her as the bell rang, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Adrien’s not here, Nino and Alya are going for ice cream, and I spent enough time eating alone in the States.”

“Yeah, of course,” Marinette said, leaving the classroom with him. “I mean, as long as you’re sure you don’t want to try eating with Chloé.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “No thank you. What on earth is her problem?”

“Mommy issues,” Marinette offered, pulling her lunch out of her bag. Peter didn’t have anything to eat, she noted. “No lunch today?”

“It’s not me you have to worry about, I always hit up your parents’ bakery before school. Poor Adrien is modelling swimsuits today, so he doesn’t get breakfast, lunch, or any water at all.” Peter sat at the bottom of the steps, tapping his feet against the concrete.

“No water?”

“Dehydration helps muscles stand out more,” Peter explained, looking dejected. “It makes the skin like, tighten and stretch over the muscle. I’ve only seen his dad twice, once when he told Adrien to go to bed, and the second time this morning when he told him he wasn’t allowed to eat. And I’m with Adrien all the time. That’s one fucked up household, I’ll tell you that much.”

Marinette didn’t know what to say. She’d never considered that those (admittedly glorious) swimsuit shots she’d seen of Adrien before took such a toll on his body. That by purchasing the magazines he was featured in, she was festering the abuse.

“I had no idea that happened to Adrien. I know his dad was distant but not…,” she let her voice trail off. Distant to this extent? Forcing his son into dangerous situations?

“I was actually going to skip class today and sneak onto the Eurostar with him, because they’re shooting in London today, but I’ve got to stick around in case Mr. Stark or Spiderman need me. Of course, I’ve also thought about specifically contacting Spiderman to take Adrien some food, but then I’d have to skip class too and I’d risk getting Adrien in trouble.”

“Do it,” Marinette shook her head. “From what you’ve told me, it sounds like Gabriel Agreste is forcing an eating disorder on his own son.”

“What I’ve seen of the so-called ‘meals’ he has the chefs prepare, there’s no way Adrien’s body is getting enough nutrients it needs to function.” Peter stood up, looking down at Marinette with a determined stare. “I’m going to go get Spiderman on the case. I won’t be in all afternoon, tell Madame Bustier that I died or something, I honestly don’t care.” She watched him leave, so desperately wishing she could suit up and join Spiderman on his trip to London, but he had a better chance of getting Adrien food without being noticed. So instead she watched Peter run away, dodging a bus, and then get hit by a car.

Hit by a car! It took her a second to realize what had happened as she ran out into the street, eyes glued to the spot where the car had collided with the side of the bus, sandwiching Peter in between the two vehicles. There was no way he was still alive.

Marinette’s head was spinning as she raced over, all the noises fading into the background, becoming fuzzy. And for a second she thought she was hallucinating, because there was Peter, standing upright and unscathed. One of his feet was planted firmly on the car’s front bumper and the rest of the car had folded around it. There was a Peter-shaped indent in the side of the bus and he looked a little surprised, but also entirely unharmed.

“Peter! How the hell?” Marinette looked at the wreck.

He took the entire scene in before a slow grin spread across his face. “Looks like I’m just lucky,” he said mildly, stepping away from where he should’ve died, moving to help the driver out of their car.

“You alright?” He asked them.

“How are you alive, kid? I thought I killed you!” The driver seemed to be on the edge of a mental break.

“Yeah well, I work out sometimes,” Peter said, helping the man sit at the curb, simultaneously dialling 112. More people were climbing off the bus and getting out of their surrounding cars, and Peter threw Marinette a glance that practically pleaded for help, but Marinette didn’t know what to do.

“I need to go,” he pulled her aside. “Make sure they’re alright, okay?”

“How are you okay?” Marinette grabbed his arm to prevent him from running away. “Peter you should’ve been crushed.”

“Marinette, I once stopped a bus with my bare hands. I’m fine, trust me? There’s an ambulance on its way, if you need to go for trauma counselling or anything. These things can be kind of scary, but it seems like everyone’s going to be okay.” He gave her a kind smile that left her with more questions than answers before sprinting away again.

Marinette was at Master Fu’s in a heartbeat as soon as school let out. She hadn’t had to come up with an excuse for Peter, turned out, as everyone assumed he’d left in an ambulance. No one would’ve believed her if she’d told him that he ran away unharmed. There was simply no way any human being could’ve been hit by a car and walked away like that.

“Peter got hit by a car!” She burst into the massage studio for the second time in two days. This time, Master Fu had a customer, who jolted up, towel sliding all over the place.

“I’m sorry,” Master Fu told the customer. “I’ll need you to come back another time. It seems someone very important to me has just been the victim of vehicular malfunction.”

As soon as the customer was expelled from the building, Master Fu gave Marinette his undivided attention. “Is he in the hospital?”

“No, that’s the thing. He’s completely fine,” Marinette described exactly what she’d seen.

When she finished, Master Fu turned away from her, dusting his table. “Your eyes must have deceived you, Marinette.”

“They couldn’t have! I saw the indents where his foot and body were! That doesn’t just happen!” Marinette threw her arms out. “Peter Parker should be dead right now.”

“But he’s not, so clearly you must have seen it wrong,” he said simply. “Like I said before, Peter Parker is always in the right place at the right time. He must’ve been in the perfect position to avoid being crushed.”

“Then how…?” Marinette snapped her mouth shut. Now was not the time to argue with Master Fu. “Just thought I’d update you.”

There was something very suspicious about Peter, and Master Fu was in on it too, Marinette could tell. The problem was, she had no idea what.

Adrien was prepared to pass out completely. He’d spent the past six hours underneath hot lights in a stuffy studio, having his starving body manipulated for the photographers. The only thing keeping him conscious was the way he convinced himself that Ladybug would not be very happy if her partner died at a photo shoot.

More than partner, his mind reminded him, causing a smile to invade his features.

“Stop it! Neutral expressions!” The director of photography screeched, pulling at his hair out of sheer frustration. “Take a fifteen minute break and get it together!”

Adrien’s female model counterpart gave him a small smile of thanks, Adrien having taken the fall so they could have a short break. Adrien knew it was just so the photographer could get a hit of nicotine to calm his nerves, but he didn’t complain, standing on shaky legs and returning to his dressing room.

There was no food, not even a sink. It was torture. His head was throbbing, causing the room to spin beneath his feet. And now he was hallucinating, because Spiderman was standing there, holding a takeout bag to Pedzouille, a restaurant Adrien had never been to, but heard great things about. It was such a realistic illusion, to the point where he could smell the delicious fumes wafting off the bag.

“Adrien?” Spidey sounded nervous.

“Wait, are you real, or am I dying?” Adrien laughed, although he wasn’t sure what was funny.

“I’m real and I brought you food.” Spidey helped him sit down, opening the bag and spreading a variety of takeout boxes across the dressing room counter. “Peter told me what your dad was doing, and he asked me to bring these for you. It was the first place I found that did takeout, I hope this is good.”

Adrien’s eyes were watering as he dug into the delicacies laid before him. At this point, Spiderman could’ve brought Adrien a rotting cow carcass and he still would’ve eaten it with gusto, but he was glad that his superhero companion had been thoughtful enough to bring something edible.

“New look?” Adrien said around a mouthful of food, waving a hand at Spiderman’s attire. The boy was wearing a black hoodie with a silver Eiffel Tower stitched on it overtop his usual suit.

“I could say the same for you,” Spidey replied, leaning against the door. Adrien glanced down at himself. Oh yeah. He was currently modelling a wetsuit made of black and green shimmery fabric that was somehow tighter than his skin. Honestly you’d see less if he just stood in his boxers. “But it’s getting cold, a spider has to stay warm somehow. Also some lady gave it to me on the street outside the restaurant. Everyone here is so nice!”

“Yfff,” Adrien agreed as he shoved a dinner roll in his mouth. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in ages, alternating between stuffing his face and guzzling the two massive bottles of water Spiderman had brought. He managed to eat all of it in the short window of time the break had been and he could already tell he was going to pay for it with a stomachache. “Thank you, Spiderman.”

“No problem,” Spidey said, then his voice dropped an octave as he leaned closer to Adrien. “If he ever does this to you, I don’t care where you are or what time of day it is, you let me know and I’ll bring food for you, or anything else you need. I don’t truly hate many people, but your dad is one of them that I make an exception for.” He leaned back, those massive, white eyes staring into Adrien’s soul.

“Nahhh, this is nothing,” Adrien waved a hand. “One time he didn’t let me eat anything for thirty six hours, now that was torture.” He’d tried to make light of the situation but failed miserably, he could tell.

“He did what?” Spiderman’s tone was on edge, dangerous.

“It was awhile ago, don’t worry about it!” Adrien did his best to smooth it over quickly, his heart beating in his throat. “If he ever does it again, I’ll let you know, I promise.”

“Good,” Spiderman said. “You get back to work, I’ll hang around until you’re done.”

“I don’t finish until like, seven pm,” Adrien said, reaching for the dressing room doorknob. “Go home Spidey, I’ll be fine.” Spiderman didn’t look convinced.

A horrible five hours later, Adrien was finally done, sliding into the car that the Gorilla was waiting in. The photographer had not taken kindly to the obvious fact that Adrien had been chowing down while in the dressing room but there wasn’t much he could do about it.

And Adrien did wind up paying for it. Not even twenty minutes later he felt like he was being stabbed repeatedly in the gut and had just done his best to keep the pain off his face for the remainder of his shift. Indigestion was a bitch but even then, he’d rather have eaten too much too fast than not at all.

They were driving in the rented car back to the Eurostar, and Adrien was not looking forward to the two hour-something ride home. He hadn’t seen Spiderman as he’d left the building, but a soft thud on the car’s roof alerted him to the hero’s presence.

And when they got on the train, Adrien saw that Spidey had upgraded his look. His hoodie was pulled up, black track pants pulled over the bottom half of his suit, bulky basketball shoes hiding his usual red boots. That being said, his face was still 100% Spiderman’s face, no doubt about it, but the new outfit definitely lessened his chances of being recognized. He got on not far behind Adrien and his bodyguard, biding his time. Sure enough, within a few minutes, the Gorilla had dozed off, allowing Adrien to slip away and sit next to Spiderman.

“Master of disguise, are we?” Adrien asked.

“It’s worked so far,” Spiderman said. “Plus, I wanted to know what happened between you and Lady. It’s obvious I interrupted something, which by the way I’m really sorry about, I literally never wanted to be that guy. But I do want to be the guy that gets to know all the gossip.”

“It’s all good. Lots had already happened by the time you showed up.”

“I take it that involved something a little more than just talking,” Spiderman said. “I’m grinning right now, by the way. I know you can’t tell. But trust me, it’s a very cool smile, that just kinda says like, ‘damn Agreste get some’.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Adrien laughed. “I don’t know what you look like at all, so now I’m just picturing a smile like, on top of your mask.”

“You’re weird. Just picture the most average white boy you’ve ever met and that’s pretty spot on.”

“From what I can see through your suit, you’re above average,” Adrien said before he realized the possible ways Spidey could interpret that. “I mean in the muscle department! You’re ripped. That’s all, and I mean all I have ever noticed about you.”

“Okay, if you say so,” Spiderman shrugged. “That’s my ego that you’re stroking.”

“Wait, so do you think if Ladybug and I wore disguises like that, I’d be able to take her on a date?” Adrien couldn’t believe he’d never thought of it. He used disguises all the time to hide from paparazzi, why hadn’t he thought about doing it while he was a superhero? It just made sense.

“Maybe,” Spidey mused, stroking his chin. “As long as you weren’t doing any strenuous activity, since that seems to deplete your miraculous faster.”

“Wait, what?” Since when did Spiderman know more about miraculous than Adrien?

“Yeah, when you guys do patrol or whatever, your miraculous seem to last around an hour. Usually by the time you’re finished akuma fighting, you’re already close to detransforming because of cataclysm or whatever. But when you’re just vibing in costume, doing things you don’t need super strength or whatever to do, you can keep them up for hours at a time. I figure that’s because your kwamis need to supply you guys with energy and whatnot during patrol, so it depletes them faster. But if you two are doing normal people things while suited up, you’d probably be good to have a date together for a few hours.”

“Man, are you some child prodigy or something?” Adrien asked. “Because you seem to give everything a lot more thought than the rest of us.”

“Yeah, I’ve got an IQ of around two hundred and fifty or something,” Spiderman said casually.

“What’s considered a genius?”

“Anything over one sixty.”

“Oh, okay.” Adrien sat back against his chair, staring straight ahead, trying to ignore the fact that possibly the smartest person he’d ever met was sitting right next to him. “Any other things you’d like to share with me while you’ve got the chance, Mr. Genius?”

“It was a mistake to tell you that.”

“Yep, it was,” Adrien agreed. He couldn’t help but wonder what Peter’s IQ was. As in, how smart you had to be to work for these guys. Probably something insane. Maybe not as insane as Spiderman’s but most likely somewhere up there. Genius level at least.

“So are you going to ask her out?” Spidey caught Adrien slightly off guard.

“Ask her out?”

“Yeah, I’m assuming she said she likes you.”

“I guess she did, yeah.”

“Then ask her out! You’ve been waiting for this opportunity, man!” Spidey turned to him, eyes widening in excitement.

“What if she remembers why she didn’t like me in the first place and rejects me?” Adrien didn’t really mean to voice that particular fear aloud, but it hung in the air nonetheless, and Spidey seemed to think for a moment.

“Why the hell would she do that?”

“I don’t know?!” Adrien threw his hands up in defeat. “I’m a scaredy cat, okay?”

“Well be a brave cougar or lion or something. I don’t know any good cat idioms.”

“I don’t even know what an idiom is,” Adrien countered.

“I was about to ask if you’ve ever taken an English class, but you’re literally French,” Spiderman laughed. “Maybe I’m not as much of a genius as you think. Intelligence is relative.”

“Sure, let’s go with that,” Adrien stretched his back out, glancing out the window as they left the tunnel, now zooming through Paris towards the station beneath the almost set sun.

“Do you feel like suiting up tonight?” Spiderman whispered, eyes darting around the relatively empty train car.

“Is there an alert?” Adrien pulled his own phone out. No alerts.

“Not an akuma, something different. I’ve got a tip off that a couple weapons dealers are going to try running away at Marseille Fos Port tonight. I want you to be there, if you’re up to it.”

“Marseille is literally like an eight hour drive away,” Adrien said. “How do you expect us to get there in time?”

“If we leave right now, I can get us there in an hour.”

“I can’t just leave my bodyguard!”

“Just say you got off at the wrong stop,” Spidey shrugged. “I’m not saying you have to come, I’m just saying it would be fun.”

“Okay, I’m coming,” Adrien decided, watching as Spiderman carefully eased the window open, pressing his palm to the outside of the train.

“Wait one second.” Spidey slipped out the window, sticking to the side of the train before shooting another web back inside and pulling Adrien out.

“Transform,” Spiderman demanded as Adrien stared, eyes wide, at the city whipping by in front of them.

“Okay!” He squeaked. “Plagg, transform me!”

He’d never transformed on the side of a train before and it wasn’t something Adrien ever wanted to do again. Spiderman directed him to climb onto his back, securing Adrien with webs before leaping off the side of the train, shooting out webs, catching the duo before they smacked into the ground.

“Marseilles, here we come!” Spiderman cheered as his powerful arms pulled on webs, sending them on their merry way.

Marseilles was on the other end of the damn country, but Spiderman moved way faster than Adrien ever thought possible, occasionally landing on trains, running along the length of them before creating his own path. Spiderman was not subject to roads or train tracks, just as long as he had somewhere to swing from. And true to his word, they were at the port in precisely one hour and four minutes.

He didn’t even seem winded from what Adrien had considered one of the scariest and coolest moments of his life. Spiderman had not only carried himself, but he’d carried Adrien too, and at such a high speed. It was terrifying. Not to mention how Adrien had nearly fallen once the webs started to wear off.

“Here we are,” Spidey said, setting Adrien on the ground. It was awkward, given that Adrien was taller than him, but they made it work. “Now we just gotta figure out where they are.”

Adrien had never been to the ports. They were dirty and smelled bad and were crawling with sketchy folk. Especially at night. Granted, the majority of the people who worked there were probably great folk, but Marseille had gained a reputation in France. And not a good one.

In fact, Adrien had never even been allowed to go.

“That suit bulletproof?” Spiderman asked.

“I have no idea,” Adrien said truthfully. “They’re supposed to be indestructible. Is yours?”

“Yeah, plus it’s got mini-shields. Karen, activate bullet repelling shields.” Spiderman glanced at him, looking Adrien up and down. “Let’s go, kitty cat.”

Spiderman was still dressed in his street wear, helping him and Adrien stay hidden in the shadows as they crept away from the port’s main entrance, headed towards one far end of the port. A cargo ship was currently being loaded, Adrien could see, given his night-vision.

“Okay, so they’re going to be loading their last stock of weapons onto that ship. What we need to do is apprehend them. They are one hundred percent, with out any shred of doubt, going to fire at us. So you need to be fast, and you need to be sneaky. I’ll tie some of them up, and if any of them try and run, you grab one of their guns and shoot them in the foot. Got it?”

Adrien nodded confidently, despite the fact he’d never so much as looked at a gun before in his life. Spiderman had wanted him to be there, and boy would Chat Noir deliver.

“So what are you going to do?” Adrien whispered. “Walk in there and be like, ‘hello weapons dealers’?”

“Now that you mention it, that’s a great idea,” Spiderman said enthusiastically. “You stay in the shadows, get ready for them to run, and I’ll go give them a show. Code word is underoos. I say underoos, you get out there.”

“Sounds good to me.” Adrien didn’t know what an underoo was, nor did he have time to inquire.

“Ready, break!” Spiderman slipped away before Adrien could even finish blinking. He had no idea where he’d gone, but right now he had a job to do. A nice large shipping container was sitting right by their ship, casting the perfect shadow for him to hide in. It was only now that he caught sight of Spiderman again. He was standing atop the ship, having shedded his outer attire, silhouetted against the sky. A small ring of men were standing not too far away from the ship, money and guns exchanging hands. Perfect.

Schwip! Schwip! Adrien heard the telltale sounds of Spidey’s webs, yet he couldn’t see where they’d landed. But the small noise had definitely gotten the mens’ attention.

“What was that?” One of them said in a gruff voice. “Are you sure we’re alone?”

“Calm down,” another answered. “That was our last deal and we’re skipping town now. The buyer’s probably long gone, there’s no way they’ve brought the cops in.”

“It’s not the cops I’m ‘fraid of,” the first one responded.

“Hey guys! You mean to tell me I missed out on your last weapons deal! No way, I wish I’d gotten the invite, I would’ve brought cake.” That’s when Spidey chose his moment to drop in. The men startled, reaching for their guns. A few turned to run and Adrien reached for his baton, sinking into a ready stance, but they didn’t get far. Spiderman’s webs were connected to two very large shipping containers which he was now pulling towards the ring of men, blocking off their exit. Now all that surrounded them was water, water, and Spiderman standing in front of their getaway ship.

That was when they decided to start firing.

Just as Spidey had said, he had bullet repelling shields that exploded outwards from his suit before any of the fire could so much as graze him. “Underoos!” He yelled as he released the webs from the containers, beginning to fire webs at his assailants.

That was Adrien’s cue. He ran out, swinging his baton, knocking into the first man that came at him. They were fast shooters, but they surrendered accuracy in favour of speed, already going against the first rule of fencing. Maybe the men hadn’t taken fencing, but Adrien had, and therefore he knew that chasing speed only ever resulted in haste. Control would always meet its mark before a strike from a hasty opponent.

Spiderman had managed to wrap up a few opponents by now, his suit still sending out small blue shields to keep him from injury, but they seemed to be getting in his way. There were only two weapons dealers left, the one who had been firing at Adrien and one who’d got their hands on a machine gun and was blasting at Spidey with reckless abandon, a rhythmic pinging noise echoing through the night as bullet casings landed on the concrete.

Adrien’s opponent clicked his gun, out of bullets, before dropping it and raising his fists. It was a score Adrien was all too pleased to settle. He let the man throw a few punches, easily dodging each one, before smacking him upside the head with his baton. Boom, out cold.

“Chat!” Spidey yelled, suddenly shooting a web in Adrien’s direction. It smacked him in the chest, flattening him against the ground just in time to see a storm of bullets sail through the air where his head had been only seconds before. Seemed like Spidey’s guy was still conscious and kicking.

“Yes, this is Spiderman, I’ve apprehended multiple weapons dealers at Marseille Fos Port,” Chat could hear Spiderman saying, then a sickening pop echoed through the empty port.

“Who do you work for?” Adrien sat up, only to see Spiderman staring down at the machine gun guy.  He was on the ground, holding his ankle in a funny position.

“I’m not going to tell you,” the man said, glaring up at Spidey with unrestrained loathing. “You’re just a child with no sense of how the world works.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Spiderman retorted, unfazed. “But if you’re not going to talk to me, SHIELD is going to be here in a few minutes, and they take a lot less kindly to that sort of thing.”

“A captain always goes down with his ship,” Machine gun guy stated, pulling a small pistol out from his jacket.

“Jesus Christ man, you’re not a captain,” Spidey said. “Please don’t do this, I’ve got a new guy on the job, he doesn’t need to see that. Chat, look away.”

Adrien couldn’t. He watched, almost transfixed, as the man brought the gun up to his head. Spidey tried to shoot a web at him, but something didn’t work. The web didn’t fire, but something else did. The man’s gun. And Adrien had never been so glad to be distracted in his life. He’d been looking at Spiderman, he’d missed it.

“Don’t look,” Spiderman said gently, walking over to Adrien. “Sorry you had to see that, but we’ve got to go. SHIELD is here.” Sure enough, he could hear the helicopter blades in the distance. He felt like he was going to be sick.

“Why didn’t you stop him?” Adrien choked out as they swung back away through the night air. “Your webs…?”

“My webs aren’t organic material. I craft web fluid, and I ran out right then. I didn’t have time to change the canister before he…you know. I’m glad you missed it though, you really didn’t need to see that.”

“Do you see people die a lot?”

“Not usually. But every now and again, there’s someone I can’t save. But I do try to take the path least littered with bodies.”

“We should’ve brought Ladybug. She could’ve fixed it,” Adrien said, burying his face into Spiderman’s back.

“She can’t bring people back from the dead, Adrien. I’m sorry, I wouldn’t have brought you if I’d known that was going to happen. I swear I just thought that it would be a standard tie-em-up-then-leave sort of deal. But I guess they had more secrets than I expected. Maybe SHIELD will manage to get something out of the other guys.”

“I feel dumb for forgetting that every fight doesn’t end in fixing everything,” Adrien admitted. “I’ve never seen someone die like that before.”

“No matter what you do, there’s always going to be those who would rather die than be captured. You try to save them, but to them there is a fate worse than death. All we can do is remind ourselves that life is not ours to take away from someone. That’s a choice they make themselves.”

“Is that the genius talking again?” Adrien asked, giving a small smile.

“No, this is just Spiderman. He’s seen a lot of shit he hopes you never will. But you’re going to see your own stuff, and some of that stuff will mess you up and stay in the back of your mind forever. But then you’ll see other things that will remind you why you’re a hero, why you put on the suit. And it’s always the good stuff that will get you through to the next day. It won’t be the baddie you defeated, it’ll be the old lady you helped who bought you a churro. That’s why we do what we do.”

“Hey Spiderman?” Adrien said as they touched down in his room.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.” There was so much Adrien wanted to thank him for. Thanks for being his mentor, for looking out for him, for passing on everything he’d learned.

“Any time Agreste,” Spiderman backed towards the window, shooting his web out. “Hopefully that’s the only death we have for awhile.”

“Hopefully,” Adrien echoed. “Goodnight, Spidey.”

Spiderman winked before leaving, swinging off into the night. The nights events had been a lot to deal with, but no matter what, Adrien was glad to have someone like Spidey by his side. Sure, the hero’s powers were admirable, but what Adrien admired most was the boy’s personality. His unbridled optimism, the way he always knew when to joke around and when to be serious. Spiderman’s wisdom transcended his years in a way that Adrien could barely begin to comprehend, but he understood the bare minimum of it. No matter what, Spiderman was always going to be there for him. And to have someone love him on that level while knowing both his identities, it was a foreign concept to him. But maybe, just maybe, Adrien was beginning to learn that people could love him and not want anything in return.

Peter landed back in his room, chest heaving as he ran to the bathroom, transformation falling around him as he made it to the toilet bowl, throwing up as tears worked their way down his cheeks. He was just glad he’d been able to save face around Adrien. No matter how many people Peter saw die, it never got any easier. Every time, he wondered if that was how his parents had died.

He did everything he could to rationalize it each time, to remind himself that for every person that died, he’d save a hundred more. It wasn’t the same, but it was all that he could do. Pay his dues to his debts in the hopes that no more kids grew up without their parents like he did, at least not if he could do anything to stop it.

It took him a few minutes of sitting there on the tile, breathing deeply, before he could stand again and head back to his room.

Maybe if you were faster with your canisters, his brain nagged. There was nothing he could do now, but he resolved to check his canisters before missions now. That was really all he could do. Ensure he didn’t make the same mistake twice.

As if in a daze, he managed to change into his pyjamas, flopping backwards onto his pillow. His head collided with something hard beneath the mounds of cushion and he frowned, sitting back up and digging a hand under the nearest pillow, fingers closing around something cold.

He could tell what it was from the shape immediately as he pulled it out, inspecting the familiar box in the moonlight. The red design practically glowed, calling him to open it. And he did. Peter was no longer afraid of the power it might possess, nor the way he felt drawn to it. He was done running from destiny, especially if that destiny was to help people.

The ruby anklet sat nestled in the pillows with a small, handwritten note. Peter bypassed the anklet, raising the letter so he could see it in its entirety.

Three words were written in a fancy scrawl. Three tiny words that would change the course of Peter’s life. Three words that left the world in his hands.

L’utilisez bien.