A Different Miraculous Set of Circumstances...
is a Miraculous Ladybug fic by Meltymacaroni.
Luka, bearer of the Snake Miraculous and sole protector of Paris, has fought akuma for over a year. The worst of them, a mysterious boy known as Chat Blanc, has almost beaten him several times. Luka needs a partner...and when Master Fu gives him the Mouse Miraculous, he knows just who to give it to: Marinette Dupain-Cheng, proven Heroic Bystander and Luka's crush.
Now if only that weirdo Adrien would stop hanging around her, they could get down to figuring out who Chat Blanc is...
This fanfic includes the following tropes:
- Abusive Parent: Adding to his canonical emotional neglect and psychological abuse, Gabriel Agreste regularly beats his son into submission and has akumatized him. He even performs a Familial Body Snatch when heavily dissatisfied with his son's behavior.
- Adaptational Hairstyle Change: Marinette ties her hair in two buns instead of her canonical pigtails.
- Adaptation Personality Change:
- Because she doesn't have Tikki to help build her confidence, Marinette is shyer compared to her canon counterpart and thus, not as vocal in calling out Lila.
- Luka, due to being the only hero who shoulders the burden of protecting Paris, becomes more jaded and withdrawn because of the constant battles. Luckily, meeting Marinette lightens his heart and even shows a more upbeat side to him which isn't often seen due to his mellow cool temper. Rose even lampshades this.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: In canon, Marinette is the user of the Ladybug miraculous. Here, she's chosen to wield the Mouse Miraculous. Furthermore, unlike canon's Multitude, the Mouse's special ability is changed to Ghost, which allows the user to travel through solid barriers.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- Unlike canon, Marinette doesn't hold any romantic feelings towards Adrien. Instead, he's the one who developed a crush on her after the umbrella moment. Therefore, he's the one looking for any opportunity to spend time alone with her. Also, he's quite possessive and a Crazy Jealous Guy when it comes to her.
- Marinette's lack of crush on Adrien also doesn't make her do anything to call Lila out on her lies. At best, she quietly dislikes her in the background. So they never become outright enemies.
- Although Marinette and Alya are on amicable terms, they aren't as close as best friends like in canon.
- It's stated that Sass is Mullo's Kwami partner akin to the dynamic between the Ladybug and Black Cat Kwamis.
- Betty and Veronica: There are two boys chasing after Marinette's heart. One is Luka, aka Parisian hero Viperion, a nice, down-to-earth musician with whom she has forged an easy friendship on both sides of the mask and respects. The other is Adrien, aka the akuma Chat Blanc, who is a troubled rich kid and acts as a Crazy Jealous Guy in regards to Marinette.
- Didn't Think This Through: Lila lies about being Multimouse's 'close personal friend' to the point of knowing who she was prior to becoming a hero. She clearly didn't take into consideration how dangerous this lie was, especially with Adrien/Chat Blanc being in the same class as her. Needless to say, this heavily backfires.
- Forced into Evil: Adrien is brainwashed all the time, and sometimes literally beaten into obedience. He retains just enough sense of self to not target people with Cataclysm, and keep his Love Interest at arm's length.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Marinette still gets to be Multimouse, albeit with a different power set and without having been Ladybug first.
- Like in canon, Luka is aware of Marinette's superhero identity without her being the wiser.
- Alya's aspirations to become a reporter and admiration for superheroes haven't been affected, so she still creates an internet blog named after Marinette's secret (and unknown to Alya) identity: Multimouse Media. And the reason for this is that Multimouse, like Ladybug, is the hero Parisians admire the most.
- The Man Behind the Man: No one even knows that Hawkmoth exists in this universe, much less that he's the one commanding Chat Blanc to cause mayhem and demand the Ladybug Miraculous. Master Fu is aware that both the Butterfly and Black Cat Miraculi have been activated to do evil, but it's dubious whether he is privy to the Cat's brainwashing.
- Oh, Crap!: Lila, upon realizing that her lie about being friends with Multimouse comes to bite her in the ass. She's happy in what she thinks is a date with Adrien, whose interest stems from wanting to gain intel on the heroes he's fighting against. Then, her answers prove to be unsatisfactory for him, and she gets kidnapped by Hawkmoth. Because Lila purposely chose an isolated spot to add a romantic sense to her date, it means there are no witnesses and Adrien can easily claim that she "rushed home sick".
- Point of Divergence:
- Master Fu decided the Ladybug Miraculous was too powerful to risk its loss, especially since the Black Cat has a villainous wielder, so he gave out the Snake Miraculous instead. Since Luka is better attuned to wield it than either Marinette or Adrien, it's he who gets to be Paris' hero. Unfortunately, he receives no partner until it becomes clear Chat Blanc has the upper hand.
- The Miraculous Hawkmoth found was the Cat's, not the Peacock's, which he then gifted to his son. So, there's no Mayura and no need for throwing akumas each day at Viperion. An akumatized Black Cat wielder is already powerful enough to put said hero through the wringer. Adding that to the fact the Ladybug Miraculous remains hidden, Gabriel sees no need to reveal himself to the public eye.
- Luka and Marinette meet and establish a strong bond a little bit earlier than in canon. First, as a Hero/Heroic Bystander duo, and then as friends outside the mask. When Master Fu allows him to pick a permanent partner, Viperion chooses Marinette to be Multimouse — with that only reinforcing their closeness.
- Unlike in canon, Luka doesn't get the chance to know Adrien's other identity. In this case, it's because they are on opposing sides of the conflict instead of being occasional allies. Likewise, Marinette is unaware of Luka's superhero persona — mostly because Luka is the one handing out Miraculi and Marinette is his pick.
- While respected, Viperion is a less popular hero than Ladybug, so the Parisians aren't as hyped about him until Multimouse comes around. Marinette just seems to be more charming and reassuring to distressed civilians than Luka.
