"Honey, do you want to take any croissants to class today? It'll be a good way to make a few new friends," Sabine called from downstairs.

"No point," Marinette called back, tying her hair into twin pigtails, just as they had been when she was little, "I'm telling you, my class this year will consist of Chloé, Sabrina, Nino and probably whoever else Chloé gets her father to convince monsieur Damocles to throw together."

"Come on Mari, you're being pessimistic about things. Surely, she won't be in your class again," Sabine assured her daughter as she walked down the stairs, dressed in pastel violet jeans and a black jacket over a black t-shirt printed with violet cherry blossoms. "Fine then, at least take some for the friends you've already made," Sabine reasoned.

"If it will make you happy." Marinette smiled, taking the box and heading out the door, making it about ten steps before tripping and nearly knocking someone over.

She caught herself and the man just in time, thanking her ever quickening reflexes and years of training.

"I'm terribly sorry monsieur," she apologised, balancing her, thankfully intact, box of croissants on one of her hands as she picked up his cane and helped him across the road.

"No, no, the fault is mine. I should have been more careful," the old man apologised in return, taking the cane. "I was just looking for my, ah, here he is. Sorry, I was just trying to find my… son."

He nodded and gestured to the approaching figure. She couldn't quite tell his age, he looked seventeen, but there was something in his gait that spoke of age beyond his years. He had dark hair and pale green eyes that just didn't sit right with her. He was tall, about six feet or something, wearing all dark blues. But there was something else, he was… shifting and shimmering. It was like looking at a heat haze, but surrounding and cloaking him.

The sight of the two strangers smiling at her sent a warning signal up her spine, and she prepared to run. Forcing herself to relax, she merely smiled sweetly, before saying, "I'm sorry, I have to go to school. Have a good day,"

She forced herself to walk at an average pace, heading towards the school. Although, she did allow herself to listen in on their conversation.

"Was it just me, or was there something off about that girl?" the tall man asked.

"I can't tell. The way she acted and the way that she held herself told of considerable skill in combat, but if she was, well, you know, then she would have reacted violently to our presence. She seemed too casual and relaxed to be one of the Gifted," the old man replied uneasily.

"Hmm, she could be one of the Forgone," the taller man suggested, the idea not seeming quite right.

"She certainly did have an unnaturally dark aura about her. We should keep an eye on her," the two stopped talking and walked off just as Marinette reached the second crossing.

'I'm willing to bet they're Gifted too,' Marinette thought, 'in that case, I'd better stay silent. Who knows how far their hearing range is.'

She thought to a few years back, when she had eavesdropped on her parents when experimenting with her advanced hearing. From what she had heard, she had learnt three things.

There were super humans in her world called the Gifted, and that she, Adrien and both of their parents were a part of them, although none of them knew that she and Adrien were as well.

There was a group of Gifted called the Foregone whose goal was to hunt down and kill any Gifted who does not join them in corrupting the world, just as the Gifted try to kill them off.

That their powers were supposed to manifest at the age of fifteen, but that they hadn't. They manifested much earlier than what she gathered was normal, and as such were considerably more developed than any others her age, but that they would still grow and mature throughout her life.

She kept her pace even and calm, continuing on to school where she would undoubtedly be in the same class as Chloé again. She looked up to the sky suddenly, noticing her eyes were no longer burning from the glare.

'Hmm, looks like a storm's brewing,' she thought to herself with a giggle.

She hurried up the school steps, stopping to check her online timetable, before walking quickly to her first class, English with Miss Bustier.

As predicted, Chloé was in her class, as was Mylene, Nino, Juleka, Rose, Sabrina etc. the exact same class as last year. She walked to the second row on her right and sat down next to the only unfamiliar figure in the room.

"Hi!" she greeted, somewhat relieved at the new face, "My name is Marinette, what's yours?"

"Alya," the girl replied cheerfully, "Have you been at this school long?"

"Yep!" she stated dryly, "This is the exact same class as the past two years. I bet you in a minute or two, a girl with pink hair, a tall boy with a blond quiff thing, a shorter boy with dark skin and glasses and a boy with bright red hair will walk in. Their names are Alix, Kim, Max and Nathanael respectively."

"I counted the seats, 'cause, that's what I do," Alya laughed nervously, "and there seems to be one person missing."

"Yeah, our class has always been two students short, though, now it's one. I'm glad to meet someone new though." Marinette sighed, plonking on her desk and listening to the distant noise of approaching classmates, coming in the order Marinette predicted.

Once they were all seated, the teacher stood at the front of the room to make an announcement.

"Okay class! Today we have two new students. First is Alya Césaire, why don't you come up and tell us a bit about yourself," the teacher encouraged.

Alya beamed and raced to the front of the room.

"Hi, I'm Alya. I'm into superheros and I really want to be a reporter one day. My last school was in Martinique and was really boring, and we had to wear this awful green uniform." This got pitying groans from most of the girls in the class, including Chloé, "Thankfully my mother had to move here for work, she's head chef at the grand Paris hotel, so I get to spend a fair bit of time in the kitchen too. It seems really nice here in France and I'm glad I get the chance to meet you all."

She walked back to her seat.

"Now, unfortunately our other classmate hasn't shown up yet. Poor boy, must be lost—" she was cut off by the door slamming open and an extremely happy looking Adrien walking in. "Oh, there he is. Well class, I would like you to meet our final student; Adrien Agreste. Would you like to introduce yourself Adrien?" The teacher asked, mildly suspicious of his remarkable timing.

"Sure!" he smiled at the class and began, "Hi, I'm Adrien. I'm not sure what to say really. I really like videogames and fencing. I was homeschooled for most of my life, so forgive me if I seem socially awkward," the class laughed slightly. "I'm really excited to meet you all and try out this whole 'school' thing."

He smiled and sat down right in front of Marinette.

"Now, seeing as you're all very excited about the new students, and as our first day started late, I'll give you the rest of the lesson to introduce yourselves, but I expect you all focused after recess." Miss Bustier smiled and sat at her desk organising her next lesson.

The students stood up and began to catch up. The whole class introduced themselves to the new students. Unfortunately, that is when Chloé struck.

Marinette was just about to surprise Adrien by tapping him on the shoulder, as she had her face hidden when he walked in, when Chloé shouted at her loudly, "How dare you presume to touch my Adrikins! What makes you think that the Adrien Agreste, model and son of world famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, would want to even lay eyes on you?!"

All eyes, the teacher's included, widened and whipped towards the completely nonchalant Adrien, shocked at the realisation that he was so famous.

"Now, now Chloé," he said, ever kind and patient, that isn't very—" he turned and saw Marinette waving slightly at him, suppressing giggles.

"Marinette!" He cried, jumping deftly over the desk and hugging her tightly. "I can't believe I didn't notice you before, it must have been the pigtails. I haven't seen you in them for years! Yes! Dad is the best! He said that I would enjoy the class I would be put in. I thought at first he meant because of Chloé, but that seemed wrong! Yay, best day ever!"

Marinette could do little to stop the endless laughter pouring from her lips.

"Well it's a surprise for me too," she smiled.

"Wait, you know her?" Chloé shouted, disgusted.

"Yep! Mari and I have been friends forever! Our parents knew each other in school, and our mums took turns babysitting us! Did Marinette never tell you?" he asked confused.

"No!" Chloé screamed, before muttering under her breath, "Otherwise I would have been nicer to her."

He turned to face an innocent looking Marinette, single brow raised in question.

"Well~ I would have told her, but I kept forgetting. Besides, I knew that one day your dad would let you go to school, and I figured it would be funnier this way," she snickered slightly, before smiling softly and saying quietly. "Besides, if I did, she would try to be my friend because I know you. That would feel weird and wrong. I decided it was better this way,"

Adrien could only smile and shake his head as Marinette introduced him to Alya and Nino.

"Now," Marinette said decisively, "We are all friends and as such we are going to get along and hang out and be overall friendly, deal? And then we can all eat these lovely croissants my mother insisted I pack to give you."

The three of them nodded, with a hint of fear, before breaking out into laughter at their new friends' childish expression, each taking one.

The four friends grew close extremely fast, and so far, the school year seemed to be going smoothly.

In fact, Marinette was thinking exactly this as she put away her books in her locker, when she heard a loud 'thump'. She turned towards the sound and saw one of the lockers had a large dent in it. It appeared that Kim had upset Ivan over something.

'Geez, Kim's been really pushing it lately,' she thought, 'I wonder what finally ticked him off? … Oh. Wasn't he planning to confess to Mylene?'

Ivan didn't show up for the next period, nor the one after. Eventually it was lunch and he was still missing. Marinette was beginning to think he had run off as she entered her next classroom. It was fifth period, history with Monsieur Rowland, though today they had a substitute for him. She sat at her seat and looked up as the teacher began to call roll.

She studied him. He was tall with dark hair and a disarmingly relaxed posture. He seemed familiar somehow, but where had she seen him? The name on the board read Monsieur Blue. He looked up and began to call roll, giving her a clearer look at him.

Beside her, Adrien whispered, "Hey, he kind of reminds me of this guy I ran into on the first day of school. I nearly knocked this old guy over and they seemed to be companions."

Her eyes widened, and she signed the word 'write' signalling they were being listened to.

"Yeah, I ran into a similar pair. The older man said he was his son. They do look oddly similar, huh?" she said, writing the words He can hear us, he's one of the gifted and he suspects I'm a forgone. Be wary of your words and actions.

"Wouldn't it be funny if they were the same person, and it turned out that you had knocked over your substitute teacher's father on the first day of school?" he laughed quietly, replying on paper Sure, to be safe, I'll keep the paper and burn it later. He looked up, noticing her worried expression, and continued Don't worry, if we stick together, we'll be fine. We took down our first terrorist at the age of five. We can handle a substitute teacher.

They both laughed before beginning to take notes from the board.

Suddenly there came a loud rumbling and crashing, before their door was knocked in by a huge stone monster.

"KIM!" it screamed, grabbing her classmate and jumped through the window, taking some of the wall with it, and crashed onto the street below.

"Okay class," their teacher said in a calm voice, instantly soothing them all. "I want you to slowly evacuate the building in an orderly fashion. Once you get there, I want you to join the other classes. I will stay behind you to make sure the monster doesn't come back, alright?"

The class complied, and soon, the teacher found himself alone in the room… or so he thought. As soon as the monster appeared, Marinette had grabbed a hold of Adrien, cloaking them from view, and Adrien cloaked their footsteps and breathing. Monsieur Blue looked about the room, listening carefully for any approaching students or teachers, before taking a round, copper coloured disk from his bag, and tapping it in the centre with a long fingernail. The disk lit up, causing Marinette to look away. It kept glowing with an unbearable light, so she asked Adrien what it was.

"It seems to be a copper mirror of sorts, only… I think he's talking to someone through it. I think it's the old man," he replied unnecessarily quietly, due to his own cloaking of his voice, "He's saying something about a… god I can hardly hear anything! Damn this cloaking. I think he mentioned something about a possible Forgone and an… akuma?"

"Akuma… akuma? Where have I heard that before? Let's see, it is the Japanese word for demon! Does that mean that what we saw was a demon?" She asked.

"No, I don't think so. It kinda looked like…"

"Ivan!" they said in unison.

"So, assuming he's been possessed…"

"Then we need to purify him…"

"And kill the demon!" Marinette finished excitedly, Adrien face palming at her eagerness at the idea, long since used to her attitude to death.

"Oh, you can look now. The light's gone," Adrien nudged his friend.

"Right. Okay, lets—,"

She was cut off as the teacher walked to the window and looked down. It was the fourth floor and quite a drop. He leaned forward, feet still on the ledge of what was once a window, but as he fell forward, he pushed off, leaving cracks in the cement walls, and landing four houses away.

"Well that confirms what we already know," Adrien sighed. "He's one of us. So should we try to hunt down Ivan?"

"Sounds good. East first?" there was a huge thump, before screaming coming from the east.

"Yeah, definitely east," Adrien hastily agreed with her.

They removed their cloaking, and stood, hands touching at the window. They closed their eyes, straining somewhat, before relaxing. Adrien could feel himself pull upwards, seeing only white-light behind his closed eyes, then it was as if his insides were being pulled in a million directions at once. However, he was so used to the feeling, he enjoyed it.

As he did this, Marinette allowed herself to sink downwards into a motionless blackness, seeing less than nothing, feeling everything. They let go of each other's hands and the bond holding them to the physical world was broken as Adrien dissolved fully into light, and Marinette melted into shadow.

They flew, or rather, shifted, towards the football stadium, just as Monsieur Blue arrived there. They hurriedly pulled themselves back into the material world, grabbing each other's hand and cloaking themselves once more.

"Marinette, can you sense where the demon is hiding?" Adrien asked.

"I can almost… uh, if only I didn't have to cloak myself. I think… in his hand! He's holding something that's possessing him. We just need to get him to open his hand," she replied frustrated, "If only we… Okay, first thing when we get home, I'm making masks,"

He laughed, "We just have to be careful. Hey, isn't Stoneheart bigger than before?" Adrien asked.

"…Stoneheart? Really?"

"Well he needed a name," Adrien huffed indignantly.

"Yeah, you're right, sorry,"

"Hey, watch what happens when he gets hit, he grows stronger… and now Blue seems to have realised it" said Adrien. " he changed his strategy, focusing on rescuing Kim, thankfully hes unconscious."

"Okay, I have a plan. You need to touch it to purify it, right? Well next time Blue is knocked away, we sneak in close and purify him, then I'll kill the demon, understand?" She asked.

He nodded.

A few seconds later, as Blue went flying out of the stadium, they raced forward. They broke the connection, both now able to be seen and heard. Adrien jumped onto Stonehearts back and concentrated, feeling the darkness flow from Ivan and into him, from where it flowed to Marinette. Stoneheart seemed to collapse, leaving Ivan in the fading rubble.

From the corner of her eye, Marinette spied a white butterfly.

The Akuma, she thought, narrowing her focus, Okay, my turn. Time to die, butterfly, see you in death. She giggled at the last part, linking hands again with Adrien. He went first, dissolving into light.

What happened next was so fast, it was hard to comprehend.

Blue came flying into the stadium, his eyes half-closed, mid-blink, as they locked with Marinette, right as she vanished.