Honestly, I was dreading this mini-arc. Because I didn't know How I was going to do this. But now, I'm feeling pretty confident. Let's see how long that lasts.

Chapter 20: Believing

Clank!

The sound of a vent covering clashed against the ground. Marinette slipped out the opening and let herself fall onto her feet in the room. She stood tall (tall enough) and glared down the man standing in front of her. She had seen the better half to the fight and finally intervened.

"That's enough!" she commands and her voice carried through the halls. The man frowned but stopped his movement. She took a risk by taking her eyes off the enemy and looking at her friends. They were all staring. Some were developing bruises. Unconscious criminals laid at their feet. Her eyes found Nino and Alya. She noticed the awe in their eyes.

"Are you guys alright?" They nodded and she smiled their way. Nino had held his own pretty well. Though, she was curious how he made that fire blast from his fist. From the color, she knew it was a dying will flame. But as for how he brought it forward without Reborn's bullet or a pill was beyond her. She'd have to ask him later. Marinette turned her attention back to the man in front of her.

"You hurt my friends. I won't let you get away with that." The man sighed and briefly looked up. His eyes flicked back down to her.

"Alright. Let's do this. I hope you're as fun as he says you are."

He? She wasn't given an option to voice her confusion, because he shot at her like a bullet. Marinette turned her body to the side and successfully dodged the attack. Or so she thought. The man's feet hit the ground and slide to a stop. With a flick of his wrist, he redirected the blade at her face. Marinette knew she wouldn't be able to block it, so she opted to drop down in the crouch to duck underneath it. The ring leader brought his weapon up and tried to bring them down on her head. The secret heroine propelled herself up into a backflip. Just narrowly dodging the hit. The sword hit the stone ground and reduced the spot to a mere crater of chunks.

"Fast. But are you fast enough?" he hummed thoughtfully before continuing the assault. Marinette kept dodging. After all, she was currently weaponless. That's when she noticed the staff that Nathaniel held. With another backflip, she held up her hand and called out.

"Nathaniel! Here!" he seemed to get the message and chucked the scepter at her. She caught it and quickly used it to block the man's attack. However, the old artifact did not stand the test of time. It was sliced cleanly in half. Oh god. This is going to come out of someone's paycheck. The man rose an eyebrow and chuckled at her sad attempt. Marinette gripped the upper half of the staff and chucked it at his head.

The artifact connected to his skull and momentarily disorientated him. Marinette swept her foot underneath his legs and the man lost his footing. He fell back as she popped up. With a powerful kick, his weapon left his hand. She stood over him. Victorious. Her classmates slowly exploded into applause and cheers. Marinette made the mistake of taking her eyes of the enemy.

The Enemy, who brought his foot out and tripped the girl. The cheers died instantly. He bounced up and placed a foot on her chest. Preventing her from getting up at all. Marinette grabbed his ankle and made a sorry attempt to pry him off. She watched as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a silver gun. He aimed it at her head. An action that caused her to still.

Without even looking at the crowd, he spoke out. "One move and I send a bullet through her skull." No one moved an inch. It seemed like everyone was holding their breath. "Oi, tell me. What's your resolve?"

This was not good. Not good at all! These words swam inside Juleka's head as she watched from the safety of the vent at her classmate's struggle. She wished she could do something. But her bad luck would get in the way. She curled her fists as she watched Marinette dodge each attack. If only there was something she could've done. Her copper eyes widened as she felt a soft hand over her own. She looked over and notice a short blonde girl holding her hand. Rose... The girl was focused on the fight and seemed just as worried as her. She turned her palm up and weaved her hand onto the girl's other. She gave her a reassuring squeeze and was given one in return.

Her eyes returned to the battle. It was bad enough that Adrien had mysteriously disappeared on their way here. So he was unable to aid in the fight. She wanted to do something herself. But, what could she do? She hated the idea of getting up in there to fight, but she had nothing else. Besides, she preferred to keep her distance. Stay Invisible. There's no way…

"There is a way." There was a squeak. The girls looked up and saw a familiar infant dressed to the nines standing on the other side of the vent exit. Before she could formulate a question, the baby answered. "Home tutor, Reborn, at your service." The baby, now known as Reborn greeted them.

"What do you mean there is a way?" Rose asked.

He smirked and held his hand up to his fedora. A tiny chameleon climbed onto his hand. He then held his hand out to Juleka. She looked at him in confusion. He said nothing as the animal jumped from his hand and into hers. Suddenly, it glowed yellow and it shapeshifted in her hand. It elongated until the glowing stopped to reveal a green sniper rifle. She tried not to think about how that was even physically possible. Her brain hurt just trying to put logic to it.

"What am I supposed to do with this!?" she never shot a gun before, especially not a rifle. The baby hummed and threw another thing at her. Rose caught it for her. It was small enough to fit in her hand. When the girl opened her palm, she revealed a tiny green dart. It was transparent and had some sort of liquid in it. "A dart?" Juleka questioned. The liquid inside the dart had turned from clear to a glittery blue. It was like liquid glitter with cloudy spots of gold in it.

"Use that to save Marinette." Reborn simply stated.

At that moment, Juleka witness Marinette get slammed into the ground and the man pinned her down with his foot. He pulled out a gun an aimed it at her. Without even looking up, he spoke out. "One move and I send a bullet through her skull." No one moved an inch. It seemed like everyone was holding their breath. "Oi, tell me. What's your resolve?" Marinette didn't answer. Instead, she sported a look of shock. As if her life suddenly crumbled in front of her eyes.

Without looking, Juleka grabbed the dart from Rose and [with great difficulty] loaded it into the green rifle. If this was her chance to save Marinette, then by god was she going to take it! The girl looked through the scope. Her hands were trembling. The crosshairs lined up onto the offender. Her finger laid delicately on the trigger. Her mind swirled with doubt. She never even picked up a gun before! She was going to miss! Or worse hit Marinette! Her shoulders tensed up before she relaxed and pulled away.

"I can't." Juleka resigned.

The baby frowned. "Don't lie to yourself."

She growled and glared at him, "I'm not lying!" She whispered harshly.

He seemed unfazed. "Look through that scope again." She sighed and followed through. "What do you see?" She saw the blonde foreigner standing over her friend. Threatening her life. She heard Reborn huffed and felt a sudden warmth at her side. She pulled away and saw the infant standing there as Rose looked at him with wide eyes. He was staring at Juleka with a look of disappointment. The baby placed a hand on the scope and that part glowed yellow. When the light had faded, nothing changed. "Look." He commanded.

Juleka looked through and found that the man was surrounded by a clash of red and blues. Her vision turned to Marinette. She gasped at the sight. It was a wild and burning orange glow. Just like the one during that akuma attack. It was brighter and larger than the man by a mile. Yet it waved fearlessly like a flame. She felt drawn to its light. Like a compelling force trying to lure her away. An ocean of bliss crashed down on her as she felt herself get lost in the waves. She felt at peace. Whole. Harmonious. It was like something aligned in her and clicked on.

"Now aim at your target."

Wordlessly, she aimed back at the man. Feelings of anger rose in her. She could see how he threatened her precious friend. His expression was bored and unassuming. She closed her eyes for a moment. Thinking of a clear sky. Of her friends all together soaking in the sun. She remembered how determined Marinette was to help her with her picture curse. Her bluebells had burned with an unknown flame then. But now, she could see a brilliant orange fire. Her thoughts jumped back to the sky as she opened her eyes. Her target was set.

"Fire."

The assassin pulled the trigger and a loud bang exploded throughout the air. The dart sliced through the air and shot right into the man's neck. She felt the recoil of the gun bruise her shoulder. The action caused her to pull away from the weapon. It glowed and turned back into a chameleon. The creature leaped right back to its master's arms. She looked back at him. Panting as adrenaline ran through her veins. She saw him smirk.

"You'll do great." He turned away and melted into the shadows.

"What's your resolve?"

The criminal's eyes bore into her own as she thought over that question. What was her resolve? What did that even mean? Her hold on his ankle loosened as she thought about it. He must've noticed her confused expression because the man slapped his hand to his face and leaned back with a groan of frustration.

"Are you serious?" He pinched the bridge of his nose before glaring back at her. "How do you expect to be Undicesima if you have no resolve?" her eyes widened at the title. Reborn told her that there was a rumor of someone knowing her. Now she was face to face with a man who knew. Her breath had caught in her throat as her mind spun out of control.

Bang

Quick as lightning, something ripped through the air and into the man's neck. It was a little green dart with blue liquid. The fluid pumped into the man's systems in seconds. He slapped his hand over the spot. Feeling for the dart and then ripping it out. He stepped away from her, freeing her. Everyone watched as he wobbled around before slamming into the ground. Marinette got up and slowly crept towards him. She glanced over at her classmates. They were all holding their breath. She kneeled down and placed a hand on his throat.

Feeling a pulse, she sighed in relief and looked at where the shot originated from. She half expected to see that woman again. But to her astonishment, there was no one. Just Juleka and Rose. They looked rightfully shocked. She checked around them for Reborn but didn't see any sign of her tutor. Odd. She was sure that if the lady wasn't involved it would've been his doing.

Clank! Another sound entered the air and everyone snapped their head to look. Another vent fell from the ceiling and out slipped Chat Noir. He landed perfectly and looked up with a cocky smile. One that died at the state of the room. His green eyes blinked rapidly as he glanced around before landing on her.

"I missed everything didn't I?" Everyone nodded remorsefully. She noted how his ears deflate slightly.

"Well, you're here now. Help us tie up these criminals and get out of here." Marinette suggested with a slight smile. He nodded and they all went to work.

Everyone used nearby belt barriers to apprehend the criminals. Marinette, feeling spiteful, had tied the leader up with more than one barrier. They gathered them together and settled them in the middle of the room. When they went to get the others, Chat had offered to destroy the door. However, Marinette knew that she wouldn't have been able to fix the damage since 1) she wasn't ladybug at the moment and 2) this was not a situation that involved an Akuma. So she enlisted Max to get to the security room and disable to alarms and iron bars. This task was proved to be of no difficulty for the computer genius and he was able to open the iron bars. The class, now whole, dragged the three other criminals back to the Egyptian exhibit and placed them with the others.

They called the police and the mayor (courtesy of Chloé) who arrived in no time. Even Adrien's bodyguard. Then, it came to the point where they had to give their account of what occurred. No one had thought to get together and get their collective story straight. So when they asked, there was a moment of silence before Marinette decided to take the lead. She just hoped everyone would follow.

"My friends and I—" she pointed to the people that were with her in the art exhibit when she noticed a face was missing, "Wait, where's Adrien?"

"Oh! I had found him in the ventilation. Lost as can be." Chat laughed almost nervously. "I left him in the Revolution exhibit before coming here!"

The officer nodded and turned to his subordinate. "Go get the young Agreste for questioning." Of course, the model's bodyguard was already on the move.

"That's won't be necessary! I'll go get him!" Chat declared stopping both police and the bodyguard in their tracks.

The officer looked confused before asking, "But we need your statement as well."

Chat waved his hands as if to shoo him away. "I'll give it to you when I come back!" Before he could let anyone else say anything, the cat was off. It was a pretty odd interaction. She wondered why he would need to go get Adrien when the officer was fully capable of that. Maybe…She thought intensely before snapping her fingers. The answer was relatively easy. They're friends! Duh! The officer turned back to her and gestured towards her.

"Continue Mlle. Dupain-Cheng." She nodded and started to tell her tale.

"My friends and I were in the art exhibit when the lights went out. Then those three," she pointed out the three people. "held us hostage. We fought back and escaped through the ventilation. However, we left Ivan and Mylene behind." Her friends confirmed the story. "We made it to the Egyptian exhibit. Where we saw that man attack my fellow classmates."

The officer nodded his head and wrote the information down. "How were the suspects apprehended this time?"

She hesitated. The girl looked over at the two girls. The shot came from where they were, but…none of them had a gun. She then glanced at Nino. Marinette knew that there was no way she could even mention the fire he managed to manifest.

Looking back at the officer, she continued, "I engaged the criminal to defend my friends. However, he overpowered me and held me at gunpoint. Until…" She trailed off, thinking over her lie one more time, "Chat Noir showed up and saved us. He defeated the man and directed us to tie up the other criminals."

The officer took it in stride. He probably expecting that to be the answer. She looked over at her classmates. They seemed uncomfortable at the lie but no one said anything. "How were the others taken down?"

"I can answer that." Nino volunteered. "We fought back against them when we saw an opening."

"I see." The officer wrote it all down before putting his notepad away. "In any case, that was very dangerous of you all to do. One does not fight thieves. Especially armed thieves. Consider yourselves lucky." They all nodded and the man sauntered away. Just as Adrien came running.

"Adrien! Where were you!?" Chloé demanded. The boy stopped to catch his breath.

"I got confused and went the wrong way in the vents. Sorry." He apologized.

Marinette shook her head in dismissal. "At least you were safe." she smiled at him. He looked awed before his face turned red. The model paced a hand on the back of his neck and looked away with a fond smile. She felt her heart flutter.

"At least you were too. Er, I mean not safe, but like that everything worked out okay in the end." He responded. She never thought she'd hear him stumble over his words. Well, this was a dangerous situation. He must be rattled. His bodyguard came over and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Alright!" Rodger suddenly yelled out to them. They all turned to attention. "You're free to leave." There were multiple sighs of relief as everyone parted ways. With a discreet shoo, Nino left with a pale Alya and Alix stomped back home with Kim and Max. That left Nathaniel to be the one without an escort. Not that they all needed one, but the atmosphere that was in the room was tense. No one felt safe alone.

Marinette went to go by her guardian when a hand grabbed her wrist. She looked back at saw their resident blonde brat. She was about to make a sly comment when she saw the serious look on the girl's face.

"Look Dupain-Cheng. I don't know what you may be involved in. But I know that those men had it out for you." She tensed at the words. Of course, it would be Chloé that would find out first. And with all the police around them, she was trapped. She would be cuffed, questioned, and imprisoned. All because of a targeted assault. "Trust me, I know what it looks like when someone is trying to kidnap you or worst." Wait…what? She spoke with experience. That was right. It wasn't all puppies and rainbows being the mayor's only child. Sometimes Marinette forgot that. "Just…keep whatever mess you have away from my school. Got it?"

Marinette nodded her head. "Yeah…I promise." that felt like a lie on her tongue, but it's what she needed to hear. The girl's shoulder's sagged before she ripped her hand away. The brat frowned and crossed her arms.

Putting up a front, she sneered, "Oh and another tip upgrade your hairdo. Pigtails are so last season."

The designer cocked her head with a smirk, "But Ladybug has pigtails."

"Yeah, but she can make it work, plus she has ribbons." The girl flipped her hair before sauntering off. With a smile, Marinette shook her head in exasperation. The girl waltzed over to her mist guardian and smiled at him. He returned the gesture easily.

"I guess it's just you and me. Shall we go?"

"Of course, right after you, Marinette—I mean…Boss."

She laughed nervously, "Just Marinette will do."

"Right." He nervously shook his head.

Together, they left the scene. Unaware of proud onyx eyes watching each step.

Far away and out of the prying eyes of people, mafias and superheroes alike, there was a building that held a special room. It was circular in nature. The walls had evenly spaced windows. Two had been opened to reveal the brightly lit city of Paris. The moonlight bounced into the room and reflected off the very expensive chandelier that hung in the room's center. The expensive light fixture sat above a round table that held two occupants. One was busy on a computer and the other was lounging around. Their feet were propped up on the table while they focused on the person that sat between the open windows.

They sat in a large throne-like chair. The wood was curved and painted pure gold. It was laced with red cushions that even curved around the armchairs. Sitting in that char was an adolescent girl. She had sparkling white hair that was pulled back in a long braided ponytail. It sat over her shoulder as she lounged across the throne. Piercing ice blue eyes were fixated on the typing guy.

The obvious computer genius pushed up his glasses and glanced over the girl. "It seems the radars picked up something interesting," his sly grin dropped into a sneer as he looked back at the screen, "Boss." the word was said with obvious distaste.

The albino smirked, "Well? Don't keep me waiting, Pet."

By the grit of his teeth, he spoke, "The radars picked up three flame signatures. A pure Sky, A Storm, and Rain. All in the same place…"

The "Boss" giggled, "It seems our dear Baker girl has found herself some guardians."

"Shouldn't we interfere now?" another female voice piped up. It came from a tall girl that stood at one of the windows.

"No. We need guests. Every party has guests." she spoke as if it was obvious. She hummed and swung her legs off the chair's arm. Her heels clicked on the smooth floor as she rested her elbow on the other arm. "For now—" she snapped her fingers, "—get me Paris' Le Milieu on the phone." A sudden woman, a maid, going by her clothing, scurried into the room with an old-fashioned telephone. She stood next to the boss and quickly started to dial up a number.

"What do you plan to do with them?" The other person at the table, a tall male with long blonde hair, inquired.

The girl licked her lips and giggled, "We need to prep our special guest before the party, no?"

The mixture of the gentle breeze and the misting flying up from the river brushed against her cheeks. Juleka stood at the edge of the boat. Her eyes remained fixed on the slowly moving world around them. Her mind was drifting to that incident from yesterday. She had given her statement to the police. She stuck with the story that everyone was playing. Chat Noir defeated him. Juleka had so carefully left out the part where it was she who stopped the man. Of course, it's not like anyone would believe her. Hell, she barely believed it herself. Only Rose knew.

That whole incident replayed in her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about how she brought that man down and the fire around Marinette. It was wild and compelling. It reminded her of her friends and family. She didn't want to admit it out loud but it gave her the feeling of curling up in front of a warm fireplace. Safe and home. The feelings it gave her scared her. For once in a long while, she feared something. It drew her to its light and yet she found herself stepping away in fear. Deep down, she knew that she wanted to run towards it. However, what if she got too close and the flames burned her?

These kinds of things are better left looking at from afar.

She sighed and looked away. Her eyes found a tiny box upon the railing next to her. It was a dark purple with gold trim around it. Juleka tilted her head. Had her mother gotten her a gift? Or did her brother get it for her? She reached out and plucked it off the rail. Bringing it close, the girl examined the outside of it. During this examination, she found a logo imprinted on the bottom. A gasp escaped her when she recognized it. It had a logo of Vongola on it.

In her shock, she let go of it. However, the realization of how expensive it must've been had her quickly trying to catch it. It bopped around until she finally had a strong grip on it. She turned away from the edge and slide down onto the floor. Her birthday was months away and she wasn't big on expensive things. Juleka swallowed hard as she reached to open it. Her hand was trembling slightly. Whatever was inside was probably worth a kidney and a heart.

The girl closed her eyes and turned away as she opened it. She waited for a second before turning back and opening her eyes. It was…a ring on a chain. Connected to it by another ribbon was a white piece of folded paper. Juleka pulled the jewelry out of its box and brought it closer for inspection. It was silver with a purple gem in the center. The jewel had a faint image of three clouds. Engraved around the jewel were the words "Cloud Guardian". She placed the box down and used her hand to lift the chain. It was the same silver as the ring. But it was short. The toggle clasp at the end made it clear that it was a bracelet.

"A ring on a bracelet? How odd," she commented as she pulled off the loosely tied ribbon and opened the card. It read:

Dear Juleka Couffaine,

In honor of protecting Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Vongola Undicesima,

You have been given the title Cloud Guardian.

Congratulations.

-Vongola Advisor, Reborn

Now, this was worrisome. This Reborn knew about her involvement. But, Undicesima…what does that mean? The girl reached in her pocket and pulled out her phone. It didn't take long to get a translation. Apparently, it meant 11th. Why is Marinette referred to as Vongola Undicesima? She looked down at the box. The logo was still fresh in her mind. If the girl remembered correctly, the current head of Vongola Inc. was known to be the 10th generation CEO of the company. Vongola, 10th, 11th, Marinette. The whole thing spelled….Juleka gasped again. Is she the next in line!? But…how?!

She looked back at the ring and studied it. Now that she was really looking at it she noticed how similar it looked to four other rings she saw. On Nino, Nathaniel, Alix, and…Marinette. Everything was starting to come together. Marinette, the next CEO of Vongola (she didn't know how a kid could be next in line) and her classmates with the same rings. They must all know. Did they also protect Marinette and earn the rings & titles as a reward? She slipped it carefully around her wrist. It rested there comfortably. She operated under the assumption that it was worth more than her life. If she somehow broke it…she shivered at the thought.

That's the end of that. Yay! We have a new guardian~!

Ciao-su~!