Befana Blasts
(on AO3) is an Alternate Universe Fic made by RockSunner, for Miraculous Ladybug. Part of the Smart Adversaries AU for Miraculous Ladybug on AO3, in which Ladybug villains make smarter decisions. The series has a tropes page here.
This is a 5-chapter work and it is now completed.
This fanfic contains examples of:
- Alternate Universe Fic: A What If? with the change that Befana shoots Marinette at her birthday party instead of toying with her, turning her to coal.
- An Arm and a Leg: The loss of Marinette's right arm is the result of an imperfect healing after she is transformed to coal.
- Bad Boss: Befana finds herself turned back to Gina Dupain for ruining Ladybug's Miraculous.
- Bittersweet Ending: Hawk Moth is captured, but Adrien is effectively an orphan and Marinette is short one arm. In addition, anyone who has read the other works in the Smart Adversaries AU and knows the common mythology behind the series realizes that Emilie Agreste a.k.a. Le Paon is still on the loose.
- Bruce Wayne Held Hostage: Endangering or transforming civilians is always a ploy by Hawk Moth to draw out Ladybug and Chat Noir. This time, the chosen target of his villain is the civilian identity of Ladybug, Marinette.
- Interrupted Suicide: Hawk Moth attempts suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills after thinking he accidentally destroyed the Ladybug Miraculous. He is rescued by Nathalie and arrested afterwards.
- The Jinx: Master Fu is worried that the whole world will be in for bad luck since Tikki has no anchor to the world, but Plagg still does. He warns the team about bad luck around Chat Noir.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Gina has a horrific one when she learns that she brainwashed her daughter-in-law and may have killed her son and granddaughter under Hawk Moth's thrall.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Nathaniel, as Renard Rouge, shows Hawk Moth that he put the Ladybug Miraculous out of his own reach by getting Marinette turned to coal.
- Oh, Crap!: Hawk Moth is so devastated by the loss of Ladybug's Miraculuous (turned to coal along with Marinette) that he attempts suicide.
- Sufficiently Analyzed Magic: Max's approach to helping Master Fu with grimoire formulas. He incorrectly invokes Clarke's Third Law when doing so.
- Suicide by Pills: Hawk Moth attempts suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills after thinking he accidentally destroyed the Ladybug Miraculous. He is rescued by Nathalie and arrested afterwards.
- Super Team: In the absence of Ladybug, Master Fu activates Nathaniel as the Fox hero, Juleka as the Bee hero, and Nino as the Turtle hero to help Chat Noir. A second string (Alix as the Horse hero, Max as the Tiger hero, and Ivan as the Ox hero) were interviewed but not activated for this crisis.
- The Unmasking: Ladybug loses her secret identity to all of her friends. She retires after also losing her right arm when she is brought back to life.
