Walking down the street behind a pair of tourists, Marinette let out a tired sigh as she adjusted her backpack strap on her shoulder. She wasn't looking forward to class yet again, relegated to the back next to an unusually quiet Chloe who had yet to make any remarks on the situation, though perhaps that was in part due to Sabrina abandoning her for Lila.
Marinette had been shocked when all of her classmates who she had thought to be her friends took all of a few weeks to start following the Italian around, hanging on her every word about the famous people she'd met and cool things she'd done. She wondered where the confidence that had filled her when Lila confronted her had gone. Though, there was a sudden wealth of free time that had appeared when her friends had left, leaving her to question a few things. Sure, when she was the class president that took up some time, but not that much and she didn't have to worry about that either because Mme. Bustier had given the position to Lila as well.
The light changed on the crosswalk and Marinette hurried across, glancing for a moment at the spot where she'd met Master Fu for the first time. The new hours of free time she had definitely came in handy for finishing homework and responding to akumas more quickly and it was only now that she wasn't constantly bogged down with piles of responsibilities that she realized just how much her classmates had been taking advantage of her kindness. It also left her time to sit quietly in the park with Adrien on the few occasions he could escape his father's strict schedule or the claws of Lila. The poor boy had confided that his father had threatened him with pulling him out of school if he didn't keep her happy and was the only classmate other than, oddly enough, Chloe, who didn't harass her these days.
Brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, Marinette felt a sardonic smile appear on her face. They had all left her for Lila thinking they could get better things than the free food and clothes Marinette had provided, but unfortunately for them the only thing they would get is disappointment and maybe a lawsuit or two if the liar kept on the way she had been recently. The Ladyblog was more tabloid than anything these days and it was probably time for Ladybug to find a new place to share such things. LB Log had a certain ring to it.
After school, Marinette met up with Luka, Kagami, and Adrien in her parents' bakery, with the latter two having snuck out of fencing practice to come. She had decided that as the new guardian, the identity rule was causing more harm than helping, and so planned to reveal her identity to them and offer Adrien a temporary miraculous. Ladybug and Chat Noir needed a support system and especially since the temporary heroes were all retired for both identity and trust reasons, these were the best she could think of. Kagami and Luka would receive different miraculouses if possible and otherwise redesign their hero selves to throw off Hawkmoth.
Bringing the three up to her room, Marinette took a deep breath as she closed the door and checked to make sure no one was outside her room on the balcony. She'd been hoping she might spot Chat Noir, but she'd have to fill him in later and apologize for making such a big decision without him present. She had a feeling he wouldn't be too upset about revealing their identities for some reason.
Turning to face the confused and curious trio, Marinette said, "I have thought about this for a long time and decided it was best to reveal something to you. Please know you cannot tell anyone, not even your families."
With that, she said two words that made everyone's eyes go wide. She was fairly sure Luka already knew because of his role as the rewinder during fights, but he was still startled. "Tikki, spots on!" She cried, feeling the familiar magic rush over her as her mask covered her face and red and black covered her body.
Adrien stood there motionless for a moment before practically screaming, "My lady?" which caused Marinette to turn her head towards him so fast she almost got whiplash. "Chaton? What are the odds..." She said, laughing.
"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien cried and he soon joined Ladybug in costume. Kagami's mouth was hanging open and Luka seemed amused from where he was leaning against her desk.
"Err, well, now you all know." Marinette said, snorting as she realized she didn't need to go find Chat after all. "I am the Guardian of the Miraculous. Luka, Kagami, I would like you to place your hand on this." She retrieved the red and black spotted box, which was thankfully no longer shaped like an egg, from where it was temporarily tucked in the back of her closet. "I hope you would not be opposed to becoming permanent members of the team?" She received two head shakes in response.
They did as she said and Marinette squinted, concentrating as she felt for the energy. Several felt right for Kagami but only the Snake resonated with Luka. A suit redesign for him, then. Gesturing for them to let go, Marinette opened the box and took out the Snake miraculous, handing it to Luka who greeted a sleepy looking Sass. She let her fingers drift towards the ones that felt right for Kagami and retrieved the Dragon, the Turtle, and the Tiger.
Placing them down on the desk, Ladybug nodded to the three kwamis who emerged, watching Longg, Wayzz, and Roaar fly over to hover in front of Kagami. Long landed on Kagami's shoulder and said, "You've grown. I greatly enjoyed our time together but you are ready to move on. I wouldn't be the best fit." The kwami bowed towards her, which she returned with a sad smile, before phasing back into the box. Marinette tucked the Dragon miraculous back in its place and watched Wayzz and Roaar.
Kagami nodded to something Roaar said and the tiger waved goodbye, leaving Wayzz and the shell bracelet. Marinette had had a feeling this might be the result, having seen as Kagami fiercely defended her and the others. She was a warrior, but also a protector, and her outfit would likely reflect this.
Ladybug nodded and said, "Alright, you need to think of a new outfit while transforming as your old hero identity was compromised, Luka. You know the phrase, Kagami?" She looked at the new turtle hero, who nodded and pointed to Wayzz.
"Shell on! Scales slither!" Luka and Kagami said at the same time, triggering the glowing light to wash over them and transform them into their hero selves. Marinette watched, fascinated, as Luka's old suit melted into black pants and a lighter blue long sleeved shirt with attached gloves which had a hint of purple in it. A scale pattern made its way down the outside of his arms and a strip of scale patterning was also visible around his waist like a belt. The mask stayed mostly the same but the colors inverted. His hair lengthened and became tied back in a short ponytail. The lyre was also gone, replaced by a crossbow-guitar hybrid, while the bracelet remained.
She looked over to where Kagami was standing and her inner designer screamed in delight. Plated dark green armor covered her torso, blending into a black tactical belt and then a green skirt and black leggings combo. Heeled dark green boots climbed up her legs, ending at the knee. Her mask was green with a black hexagon design and in her left hand was a metal-capped black staff, while her right hand held a round shield with an identical pattern to her mask. Her dark hair was gone, replaced by a pastel green shade and pulled back into a tight bun.
Chat Noir, who had mostly been silent up to now, grinned and moved to stand next to Luka, asking, "Any ideas for a new name? I can help you out if you need, I'm puretty good at it if I do say so myself." Ladybug rolled her eyes fondly at the pun, also interested in what the new heroes would be called.
Thinking for a moment, Luka said, "How about Adder?" He was met by approving nods from everyone and so Adder the Snake hero was born. Kagami took longer, but eventually decided on Helmine, which was a name meaning resolute protector.
With identities finished, Ladybug cleared her throat and said, "I think I speak for everyone when I say that the Ladyblog has become no longer reliable for akuma related things. My idea was to create a new one and have the heroes officially endorse it."
Adrien nodded thoughtfully. "What would we call it?" He asked, making Marinette think of the name she'd idly come up with earlier and then frown at how it seemed self-centered, as she wasn't the only hero. It was already a bit upsetting that the Ladyblog tended to overly focus on her, so if the heroes made a site, they needed to come up with something inclusive.
"Pound it?" She offered hesitantly. "Or maybe Paris something."
Kagami's eyes lit up at the mention of Paris. "Ooh, I know, what about Paris Patrol, no Paris Watch?"
"Paris Patrol. Sounds like some kids show." Chat Noir said with a snort. "I love it!"
"I vote for Paris Watch personally." Luka said, smiling. The three turned to ask Marinette for her opinion, only to find her scribbling frantically on a piece of paper.
Glancing over her shoulder, they saw a circle split into four sections, one with polka dots, one with a paw print, one with a shell, and one with a snake fang. Underneath was various words that seemed to be a plan for the site. As they watched, Marinette added Paris Watch to the logo, one word above and one below.
"Hah, take that!" Kagami said to Chat Noir, who was pouting. He stuck his tongue out in response.
Ladybug finished dividing up the site into sections and then enlisted the help of Adrien, who turned out to be very good at coding, to actually make the website. It took several hours and a large plate of cookies delivered by Marinette's father to the room of teenagers who had detransformed a long time ago. It took a lot of effort, but the end result looked fantastic, with a section to report butterfly sightings as well as actual akumas, another for messages from the heroes, who all had a separate account with their logo symbol to differentiate between who was posting, and finally a section on meditation and calming techniques in an effort to potentially mitigate some of the akumas and emotional chaos. They also added a picture of the team for a header to prove its authenticity, having crossed the rooftops to an unidentifiable wall to take it.
The next day at school, Marinette couldn't resist a shared grin with her kitty when Alya stormed into class, upset about the new blog that was 'stealing' all her viewers. Lila promptly said that she'd tried to convince her hero bestie not to do so, but that Ladybug was being selfish and rude these days, adding some fake tears to sell the story. She also tried to blame it on Chat, unaware that the civilian form of said hero was sitting right behind her trying not to either laugh or shout, going by his pained expression. And to think they still wouldn't know each other's identities if her classmates were still pretending to be her friends.