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This was it.
They had finally done it.
Marinette looks across the battlefield to her partner who was holding down Mayura and shares a tired but victorious smile before turning to look at the man tied up in front of her; the man who had brought so much pain and suffering to the city of Paris for the last two and a half years. The man who had helped take away her childhood, who she had been fighting since age eleven, who had done it all only for the hope of one wish which no matter what would have horrible repercussions. Hawkmoth.
She reaches forward and removes the brooch, but as the transformation fades, instead of victory, feels her heart sink. Sitting before her, tied up, in the place of the villain who had twisted the emotions of millions of innocent citizens was one Gabriel Agreste. The father of her partner, a man who, while difficult and dismissive of his son, he still stubbornly loved. Marinette, seeing this, makes a split-second decision. She melds with the bee miraculous, which she was wearing as a precaution, and as soon as the transformation takes place, venoms Chat, who had by then started towards them with a look of barely restrained fury. She grabs his and Mayura’s miraculi, completing her mission, and flees to the rooftops.
For such a victorious moment, the defeat of a villain, and the end of an era to have been corroded and twisted, Marinette knows he is gone; she can feel it, but she still cannot seem to let herself feel the loss.
Marinette makes her way to the top of the Eiffel Tower, somewhere no cameras can see, pulls the whole miracle box from her yoyo and drops her transformations.
Turning to all the kwami present, Tikki and Pollen who she had transformed with and both looked sad, Plagg, who she had taken from her partner, and seemed to not be as shocked as he should be, and the newly rescued Nooroo and Duusu, who seemed both happy and apprehensive. She opens the box allowing the rest of the kwami out. “So all I need to do is to return all to the box and the box will be restored and I will be a full guardian, right?”
They look at each other warily but nod, Wayzz speaks up with reassurance, “The last guardian set it so you would receive it.”
“Okay.” Marinette lightly smiles; even with the recent events, this would protect them and ensure Paris is now safe. “See you all on the other side,” and she begins to open up all of the various containment sections of the box placing the related Miraculous there. She closes the box, and all of the kwami vanish. But something feels off. Suddenly she feels a large draw on her magic and the box disappears, though she still feels aware of the Miraculi, and a huge magic shockwave extends out from her covering the city.
She collapses and somehow she senses that everything she's been through in the last two and a half years, Hawkmoth and all of his evils, their memory has been whipped from the minds of the city. She looks up in front of her, trying to gain her bearings and through spotty vision sees two men standing above her. She notes they look somewhat like monks and seem to be trying to radiate a friendly aura, but, un-luckily for them, she had learned everything from the grimoire as soon as she inherited the title, including aura reading, and she could tell from that and her instincts alone the men were bad news. She tries to rise and move away from them as they approach her but in her weak state she cannot seem to move and times slows down as they reach her and her vision fades to black.
*****
Marinette’s—Mary now, she guesses—eyes snap open, her whole body tense from the dream. A memory she did not love to remember but, she could sleep through. It was better than when she dreamed of there, she shudders lightly.
Knowing that she would not get any more sleep that night she slowly loosens her tense muscles, and rises from her bed. Throwing on a loose sweatshirt, she heads to the apartment’s kitchen. Glancing at the clock as she enters reveals that it is 2:07 am. Almost on autopilot she goes to the coffee machine knowing it would be a long day and starting it with two hours of sleep and nothing to fall back on is a great way to accidentally skewer someone, though running on little sleep is nothing new.
The coffee machine surprises her when it goes off, indicating it is done, and she pours herself a cup.
Mary walks out of the kitchen around the breakfast bar and across the open concept living room, opening one of the balcony doors. She steps out into the cold Gotham night lightly shivering and walks to the railing mind wandering as she watches the dark city and drinks her coffee.
It felt as if she had gotten out just a week ago instead of six months. The crater which the temple became, the only reminder of that place, had been burned into her memories. She was glad her grandmother had kept looking, that she had found her, that she had remembered. Gina had understood, she had let Mary escape her thoughts through their travels and become more acquainted with the world she had left now three and a half years ago. Her grandmother also knew that she had a purpose in their wandering, something she was meant to do, so when she identified Gotham as the place where balance was needed most Gina did not argue with her. She did though call in some favors with old friends in the area and set her up with others to watch her, who she was slowly learning to redguard more as aunts or even mothers than ‘guardians,’ with strict instructions to help her heal. Though, knowing Harley she would have taken one look at her and adopted her regardless. Well that, and–
She is startled out of her thoughts by the sudden clang of someone landing to her right. Mary twists dropping into a combative position holding her now empty coffee mug as an improvised weapon, surprised someone was able to get the drop on her.
*****
Selina landed next to Mary on their balcony in full Catwoman garb making sure to make enough noise to make her aware of the presence of another. Honestly, she was surprised the girl had not immediately known she was there once she was in range, and could tell from her frozen figure she was lost in thought.
As Mary whirled around Selina could tell she was wound up, she took a quick step back raising her hands and calling out, “Hey kit, it's just me.”
As Mary truly registers her presence her eyes lose their wild look and her form loosens a bit, but the tension that remains worries Selina. ”What are you doing up… Nightmares again?” remembering the persistent night terrors the siren’s ward dealt with, and mentally cursing the fact that the other two had been out for their weekly date night.
Mary looks back out at the city and nods, eyes scanning the skyline. Looking at her, Selina remembers when she first got there and that, no matter how much improvement, she needs to heal and focus on herself, but seeing her out there and the way her eyes almost spark while looking out on the city… well they had agreed that she would have to wait at least three months before going out, but honestly Selina thinks it could do her some good now, “Hey,” she starts softly grabbing the girl’s attention and getting her to look back up at her, “I know we wanted to wait a bit on you going out and ease you back into work, but it's been three months now, and I was wondering if you’d want to come out for the job we have planned for tomorrow. It would be a decent opportunity, we’re taking out one of the top jewelry stores in the city and the owner is horrific.”
As Mary listens, a spark appears in the girl's eye momentarily before being replaced by a level of apprehension. “You sure you want me to be in the field?”
“I wouldn’t offer unless I meant it. It's just up to you if you want to be involved again so soon after everything,” Selina honestly was not absolutely sure what was included in that everything herself. She knew the basics from Gina, and some specifics which Mary or Harley had told her, and knew from that alone that Mary had to decide this for herself. After everything she had gone through with others pressing their choices for her onto her actions she needed this chance to make her own decision.
Selina just hoped she did what was best for her. The hesitant response was a bit surprising, though it shouldn’t have been. The girl oftentimes would hold herself with cool intelligence and grace, hiding most emotions and any reactions until she was able to analyze everything around her and figure out the best way to respond accordingly; though she did habitually loosen up more in the early hours. Selina also knew Mary needed human contact and connection. The detached nature seeked to hide her cravings but herself and the other girls were able to see through that and it made her eternally grateful that they were able to take her in. She needed help being more human, not like what they were trying to make her.
Breaking off her thoughts she notices Mary’s eyes had returned to her own, “I would be glad to help, I should start preparing,” the corners of her lips tilting up slightly at the end of her second statement. “You think the fox would work well? These streets are full of chaos after all.”
Selina smiles, “Of course kitten, what costume will you use.”
Mary’s smile shifts into a smirk and moves her hand in a small motion summoning the foxtail necklace which took on the inconspicuous form of a small silver choker with a tiny foxtail charm. Sensing their miraculous had been activated, Trixx comes out to the balcony from Mary’s room, where she was sleeping with the rest of the kwami. The kwami had shared their fears about the state of their guardian with Selina and the rest of the Sirens since they had arrived and established trust and were part of the reason they were at least partially aware of what Mary had been through in the three and a half years she had been trapped.
Trixx catches Selina’s eye inspecting the interaction. “So are we going out, because I cannot wait to fuel this city’s chaos.”
Selina smirks and looks to Mary who nods in ascension. Then, Mary pulls out one of her sketchbooks where she keeps notes on different forms she can take with the kwami and the powers and costumes she is granted with them. She opens to one of the fox ones and prefaces with, “I think I will go by Kitsune,” before flipping the design for the kwami and her mentor to see.
On the page along with the description of the basic powers was the costume, it had a high traditional Chinese collar and was sleeveless with a sheer light fabric layer covering the arms. Oh her hands were heavy duty gloves which were slim on the fingers but had reinforced knuckles. Around the waist was a removable skirt with slits up both sides to the thighs allowing access to the knives sheathed there. Underneath there were knee high boots which hid more weapons and the legs were covered in similar material to the arms when the skirt was removed. There was a hood to cover her head which had two sets of holes to allow a pair of white fox ears to stick through the top and for the dual french braids across her back.
The notes add that relying mostly on the hood she would not wear any other mask though, her grey eyes would be turned silver and take on a fox-like quality (similar to the green ones Chat Noir had been blessed with) and she would gain fangs. Along with the removable skirt, which could become a cloak, shock blanket, or be magicked away, the whole costume except the ears could also all change color from the ethereal white blue it appeared on the page to a mixture of navy, charcoals, and blacks allowing her to blend in with the shadows. If she wants to increase her apparent magic ability she can gain up to nine fox tails like her namesake. To do her magic she can summon a small lute which appears in back and silver and allows her to dispel it so she can work without it hindering her movements.
To help her across the rooftops she decided on a small grapple, similar to her yoyo in operation which was hidden by the skirt or could be summoned by will.
Selina is honestly very impressed by the look and when Mary starts pointing out smaller details and clarifying certain parts to her and Trixx’s questioning it warms her heart. Even though she is still quite hesitant the warmth and excitement displayed demonstrated extensive growth for the guarded girl who she had started to see as a daughter. Mary’s response to her offer is testament to how much more comfortable she has grown with Selina, Harley, and Ivy and herself. Selina looks at her encouragingly, smiling to herself as she leads her inside to begin talking logistics as the sun finally begins to rise over the city.
It was high time she got to be the one to adopt, and there was no way she was letting her little kitten’s debut be nothing less than amazing. The bat better watch out, there's a new Siren in town.