Puppeteer Too
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 three-chapter work and it is now complete.
This fanfiction series contains examples of:
- Alternate Universe Fic: A What If? with the change that Hawk Moth takes the risk of giving The Puppeteer mind-control powers through figures, making her as powerful as in her first appearance with her Near-Villain Victory. The risk is that the museum contains a figure of Adrien (and one of Hawk Moth himself).
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Marinette's pretend wish to be a wax statue in the embrace of Adrien's statue comes true when The Puppeteer takes control of the figures of Chat Noir and Ladybug, swapping their places with the real people.
- Blatant Lies: Adrien calls out Marinette for her lie about the "upside-down spades."
- Creepy Child: When The Puppeteer gains control of Hawk Moth and even her mother, she wants to make all her minions play forever.
- Fix Fic: Marinette's heartbreak doesn't last long, because circumstances have made her secret easy for Adrien to guess.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: An unusual variation. The Puppeteer's powers cause people to change places and clothing with their wax duplicate. The person is also Brainwashed and Crazy to be more like their akuma villain and under Puppeteer's control.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Hawk Moth gives The Puppeteer the power to control people through their wax figures, not realizing that his own wax figure is available to her, so that he can get controlled himself.
- Karma Houdini: Averted. Marinette loses her babysitting job for Nadja Chamack for neglecting Manon, letting her be cared for by irresponsible friends who abandon her, leading to Manon being akumatized. It is implied that Nadja will turn to Lila Rossi as a new babysitter.
- Lower-Deck Episode: In a sense, as Viperion, Pegasus and King Monkey are the ones who save the day and defeat Puppeteer.
- Not What It Looks Like: Marinette wakes up to find herself in the middle of a real kiss with Adrien, with three superheroes and Manon looking on. She has to explain that she thought he was a wax figure.
- Pulling the Thread: Adrien works out that Marinette must be Ladybug because otherwise she would have no wax statue to be controlled. She attempts another explanation, but he points out that her earrings are missing and she finds them in her purse where Viperion put them.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Puppeteer allows Hawk Moth to win by making Ladybug and Chat Noir give him their Miraculous, but they aren't the real ones and it's only one round in the endless game she plans to play.
- Shout-Out: "It's a Good Life" said by mind-controlled Ladybug, is a reference to the short story and Twilight Zone episode about a group of people controlled by an all-powerful child.
- The Unmasking: Ladybug and Chat Noir's identities are revealed to each other and to Hawk Moth, but all memories are forgotten with the Miraculous cure. Later, Adrien works out Marinette's secret and reveals his own to her.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Unlike the original episode, The Puppeteer calls out Alya for breaking her promise to Manon. "You didn't play with me like you said you would. Now I'm going to play with you."
