Miraculous: Tales of Scarlet Beetle & Ikati Black is a Miraculous Ladybug fanfic written by BooksRBetterThanPeople. It can be found here.
In another universe, Gabriel Agreste's wife never disappeared and he never got his hands on the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculouses. Instead, the Butterfly ended up in the hands of Nathaniel Kurtzberg, who becomes the Anti-Villain Monarch and sets out to claim the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses so he can make a wish. In response, Master Fu gifts the two Miraculouses to two of his classmates — namely, Lê Chiến Kim and Max Kanté — in order to stop him.
The story is also a part of the Nathaniel calls Marc Rainbow series, a series of mostly-unconnected NathMarc-focused stories.
This fanfic contains examples of the following tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Nathaniel nearly bursts into laughter when he learns Alya suspects redhead school-bully Austin Quinlan of being Monarch.
- Adaptation Deviation: Théo's Copycat form is him dressed in his own version of Ikati Black's uniform rather than turning into him outright as he did with Chat Noir in canon. The author did this to avoid any implications of Blackface.
- Adaptational Heroism: Because his wife is still around and he doesn't have the Butterfly Miraculous, Gabriel Agreste is a far better parent to Adrien than he was in canon, as well as nicer and more personable in general.
- Adaptational Intelligence: Alya's canon tendencies to jump to conclusions and place a potential scoop above her own safety are downplayed here, between Marinette serving as her Straight Man and her generally making smarter decisions.
- Adaptational Jerkass: Alec Cataldi wasn't the nicest in canon, but here he's shown to explicitly be pitting close friends Aurore and Mireille against each other for ratings (much to the ire of their classmates), it's mentioned that he humiliated the other contestants of the weather competition, and he rigged it so Mireille would win because of Nepotism.
- Adaptation Name Change:
- The Ladyblog is called the Bug & Cat Chat here.
- Fred Hapréle's Akuma name is now Mal Marceau instead of le Mime.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Kim is less of a Jerk Jock than he was in canon; it's explicitly noted that he hadn't meant to hurt Ivan's feelings (and subsequently get him akumatized), he just thought it was some light teasing.
- Adaptation Personality Change:
- Marinette's more assertive and confident at the start than she was in canon; it's implied to be a result of being Kim's friend for years. She's also more courageous as she actively helps Alya run the Bug & Cat Chat despite lacking a miraculous.
- Adrien is also more assertive of himself, and far less tolerant of Chloé's behavior than in canon. This is because he's less socially naive and well aware of how two-faced others can be.
- Since Marinette points out it could be dangerous, Alya ends up deciding it would be a bad idea to try and figure out the identities of the heroes, instead focusing on trying to expose Monarch's identity.
- Gabriel Agreste is a loving and caring (if a bit smothering) father to Adrien here, as opposed to his Control Freak canon self. Nathalie is also more lighthearted as a result.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- While they're not particularly close in canon, here Marinette, Kim, and Nino are childhood friends.
- While she still considers him a friend, a combination of lack of interactions and changes mentioned below means Marinette doesn't have a crush on Adrien (so far). Adrien, meanwhile, has a bit of a crush on her.
- Alec Cataldi is Mireille's father here, and it apparently plays into his reasons for rigging the Weather Girl competition. Théo Barbot is also her half-brother, as a way of explaining their closeness in canon.
- Adaptational Sexuality:
- While it was hinted at in canon, here Nathaniel is explicitly bisexual.
- Kim (who's only shown interest in girls) and Max (asexual according to
Word of Gay) are crushing on each other here in a manner similar to the canon Love Square. - Marinette is shown to be demiromantic here, a far cry from her love-struck canon self.
- Théo Barbot's crush on the Ladybug hero remains, even with said Ladybug hero switching genders.
- Adaptational Superpower Change:
- Instead of the Goat Miraculous, Nathaniel gets the Butterfly Miraculous and becomes the villain Monarch. Additionally, while in canon Gabriel needs to breed the akuma butterflies himself, here anything butterfly-shaped can be used to create one (with Nath using origami ones).
- Kim and Max end up with the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses, respectively, instead of the Monkey and Horse.
- While Alya is still akumatized into Lady Wi-Fi, here she's a Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl reminiscent of Samara rather than a spandex-clad villain, with a slight change in how her powers work to match.
- Horrificator, as a side effect of some of Nathaniel's grief getting into his Akuma, now has the ability to become intangible and make people see their worse fears.
- Adaptational Villainy: Nathaniel ends up becoming the setting's Butterfly villain, when he was nothing more than Marinette and Adrien's classmate in canon.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Adrien makes Gabriel swear up and down not to embarrass him in front of his class when he goes to announce the bowler hat competition.
- Anti-Villain: Monarch may be terrorizing Paris in order to gain the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses, but he has no interest in world domination and is willing to try and call off his akumas if he feels they go to far. It's also heavily implied that he's only a villain for the same reason Gabriel was in canon (wanting to resurrect a loved one).
- Ascended Extra: Magician of Misfortune, the akuma form of Jean was a minor akuma defeated quickly during the episode "Princess Fragrance". Here he gets a Day in the Limelight as the titular villain of his own episode in place of Evilstrator.
- Asshole Victim: Nathaniel has no problem with his akumas targeting Chloé or the Austins on their rampages, especially if either party is responsible for their akumatizations in the first place.
- Author Appeal: The author's a huge fan of musicals, so there's plenty of references to musicals scattered throughout the fic.
- Badass Bystander: When Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black get captured by Pharaoh's minions, Marinette and Alya manage to cook up a plan to distract the akuma long enough so that the latter can get the heroes' weapons back to them.
- Mme. Bustier also proves to be this as she successfully leg-sweeps an armored Rogercop, buying time for everyone in the classroom to evacuate.
- Batman Gambit: Nathaniel pulls one to get Nino akumatized in "Bubbler". Knowing that Chloé won't be happy if she finds out the other kids are planning a party for Adrien without her, he waits until she's irritated by the idea that they're hiding something from her, then deliberately leaves his phone out for her to find. Naturally, her reaction to Adrien having a party without her is to plot to get the party canceled — which ends up leaving Nino open to akumatization.
- Bilingual Bonus: Kim has a habit of cursing in Vietnamese.
- Berserk Button: For Max, it's anyone calling his friend an idiot.
- Broken Pedestal: Many of the parents are appalled at how much of an Extreme Doormat Mayor Bourgeois is in regards to his bratty daughter's entitled whims. Most wonder if they were drunk/high when they voted for him.
- Childhood Friends: Marinette, Kim, and Nino have been good friends since childhood, and Kim and Max have been friends since they were ten.
- Conversational Troping: During "Horrificator", when Denise brings up to Chloe how the unlikeable petty blonde is the first to die in horror movies, Nino brings up that it's usually the Black Dude Dies First and the blonde dies either 3rd, 4th or last, admittedly because talking about movie tropes helps him calm down. Simon and Alya also share a few horror tropes to help ease the mood.
- Crazy Jealous Guy:
- Théo, as in canon, gets jealous of how close Ikati Black is with Scarlet Beetle, enough for Nathaniel to akumatize him.
- In the same chapter, Max worries that he could become this after his attempt to talk Théo (who he thought was much older and too old for the underage Scarlet) out of his affection towards Scarlet leads him to claim that they are much closer romantically than they really are. Plagg explains that Max is going through his "lion phase," which is where Black Cat holders will snap at anyone who might be a threat, especially to their partner Ladybugs. In Max's chase, this will take the form of being verbally aggressive, akin to a jungle cat roaring to keep competitors away from their territory.
- Jean fits into this as Magician of Misfortunate. However, it's revealed that this attitude was a result of Nathaniel's own jealousy fueling it.
- Didn't See That Coming: In "Animan", the titular akuma, Nathaniel, and Aya are surprised that Scarlet Beetle is willing to hand over Dylan over to Animan after finding out the teen fired a gun at the zoo to get Otis akumatized. It's actually a Batman Gambit to distract Animan long enough to grab his mask and purify his akuma, with Scarlet planning to hand Dylan to the police for proper punishment.
- Deconstruction:
- In canon, no one really bats an eye at Sabrina's lopsided, toxic friendship with Chloé. Here, everyone's concerned about Sabrina to some extent, it's mentioned that there've been attempts in the past to separate them, and Alya makes it her personal mission to help Sabrina get out from under the blonde girl's thumb.
- A rare case of positive deconstruction regarding the
Fandom-Specific Plot of Marinette, Nino, and Kim being Childhood Friends, regarding the long-term positive effects, or at least an implied effect, rather than things remaining the same as in most fics. Being friends with the more gung-ho Kim has made her much more assertive, especially against Chloe than she was in the Origin Episode. Likewise, growing up with the sweet and kind Marinette has made Kim much more friendly towards his classmates and others, which leads him to become the next Ladybug wielder after helping Master Fu.
- Didn't Think This Through: In "Bubbler", Monarch grants Nino the power to trap authority figures in bubbles and send them into the atmosphere. It's after he depowers that Nooro points out to Nathaniel that Bubbler will go after all adults, including Nathaniel's mom and adults taking care of young children.
- Do Not Adjust Your Set: Monarch uses his Miraculous tool to introduce himself to Paris in this manner.
- Dramatic Irony: In chapter 17, Kim is furious that an akuma fight in the rain caused Tikki to get sick and plans to punch Monarch in the face when they finally meet... all while maintaining a friendly chat with Nathaniel. Likewise, when Kim accidentally drops Tikki while rushing to get her to a healer, she is found by Nathaniel, who gets instructed to take her to Master Fu. Both Kim and Tikki are happy that it was Nathaniel that found her instead of anyone dangerous like Monarch.
- Dude Magnet: Much to Juleka's annoyance, her brother Luka is this. Many of Juleka's male classmates have expressed how attracted they are to him, and Luka was able to sweep Prince Ali off his feet without any trouble.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Two at the end in chapter 17
- Nathaniel runs into Kagami at a park, where she helps him with sword basics after seeing his attempt at practice.
- Luka appears at the end of the chapter when Ali is visiting the Couffaine home with Rose and Juleka.
- The Empath: Nath can sense the emotions of his victims before he akumatizes them. He can also sense others' emotions passively, sensing Marc's anxiety during Stoneheart's rampage.
- Entitled Bastard: Chloé in spades. She believes she's entitled to everyone bowing to her every whim and loving her (especially Adrien) simply because she's rich.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: "Evil" is a bit of a stretch, but Nathaniel has a crush on Marc and is horrified whenever he ends up in danger thanks to an akumatized villain's attack. He also only became Monarch in the first place because he wanted to bring his dad back from the dead.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Nathaniel tries to make sure that no one gets seriously hurt or threatened to the best of his abilities whenever he akumatizes someone. He also tells Nooroo to take the Miraculous and run if the kwami ever feels unsafe around him.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Mayor Bourgeois may care more about catering to his bratty daughter's whims more than being a good mayor to Paris, but he makes sure to keep the (seemingly) adult Théo away from his underage crush during the statue unveiling.
- While Alya is an Intrepid Reporter, she refuses to violate someone's privacy and makes sure to read up on photo privacy and consent laws in Paris.
- Roger doesn't hesitate to put his foot down when the mayor unjustly demands he conduct an illegal search on underaged students just to appease his bratty daughter.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Done by Nathaniel and Nooroo when discussing the Bubbler's desire to rid Paris of authority figures.Nooroo: But, when you said authority figures, that means parents, right?
Nathaniel: Yeah...?
Nooroo: Including your mom?
Nathaniel: ...Oh, shit.- Happens again in "The Pharoah" when Nooroo reveals that the ritual Jamil intends to perform is in fact real.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: When Monarch first tries to akumatize D'Argencourt, he initially blows him off as he refuses to work with a villain. That is until Monarch unlocks his Astral Projection powers, which make him appear to D'Argencourt like royalty from Middle Age French and make the gym teacher devote himself like a loyal knight to his prince.
- Freudian Excuse: Sabrina's main reason for being Chloé's "friend" here is that she fears that her dad could lose his police job to the blonde's whims if she ever said no to anything Chloé tries to make her do.
- Freudian Slip: When asked by Manon if he misses his "sister" Starfire, Nathaniel nearly refers to Starfire as "him" before correcting himself.
- Hated by All:
- Pretty much the only reason anyone in Ms. Bustier’s class tolerates Chloé is because of her Screw the Rules, I Have Connections! routine.
- Nathaniel used to have a cousin in the same class as him and his friends, and he had a habit of blackmailing everyone, endearing him to no one. Even Chloé hated him so much that she didn't do her usual bullying for some time after he transferred to a different school.
- In a similar vein to Chloé, no one likes the Austins thanks to their jerkass attitudes and how they use their wealth to get away with bullying.
- Hate Sink: Dylan, a TikTok user that deliberately got Otis akumatized into Animan by writing harassing messages around the panther exhibit and shooting a BB-gun at the zoo to provoke him, all to make a Monarch Challenge video for views. He was even planning to get Marinette akumatized when Nathaniel found out. There is no sympathy for Dylan when Nathaniel reveals himself as Monarch to and express his disgust at his actions, then reveals his crimes to both Animan and Scarlet Beetle.
- I Never Said It Was Poison:
- At the end of "Rogercop", Itaki Black gets suspicious when Scarlet Beetle mentions how he knew that mayor threatened the other parents' jobs, despite not being able to watch the recording Nino made in class that day or apparently being in Max's classroom.
- In "Horrificator", the students referred to the titular akuma as either "it" or "they" before finding out that she was Myléne. Marc gets suspicious when Nathaniel referred to Horrificator as "her" before they found out.
- Innocent Inaccurate: In "Animan", Kim remembers a time when he was five-years-old and was sleeping over with a cousin, then went to his aunt's room after a nightmare and sees her doing something weird with a trapeze. While he laughs off at the memory, Nino, Max, and Marinette realize that he likely saw a Primal Scene of sort and not realizing what it is. Max non-verbally tells Nino not to let Kim know, while Marinette turns the attention to Marc and his siblings after Kim finishes his story.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Even with the different Miraculous wielders in play, most of the akumatizations happen about the same as they did in canon.
- While Gabriel is far more lenient here than in canon, Adrien's still spent most of his life homeschooled, and only gets to go to public school for the first time at the start of the story.
- Chloé still causes someone to be akumatized in the Valentine episode even though Kim doesn't have a crush on her. This time, she causes Nino to get akumatized after she sabotages Max's valentine confession to Kim.
- Kim also ends up Brainwashed and Crazy like the canon episode, though this time because he is put under Anti-Eros/akumatized Nino's control rather than becoming an akuma himself
- Ironic Nursery Tune: Stormy Weather sings a modified version of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" while pursuing Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black.
- Karma Houdini: Lampshaded by Mendeliev's class; they bitterly note that Alec probably won't face any punishment for rigging the Weather Girl competition due to his wealth and fame.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: The Austins have been dodging the consequences of their bullying due to their wealth for a while, but between Monarch being willing to send akumatized villains after them and Paris' heroes being willing to threaten Damocles into actually punishing them, it's made clear that their reign of terror will be coming to an end sooner or later.
- Middle School Is Miserable: The Du Pont students have no fond memories of Antoine-Laurent Collége or any other middle school, and are horrified going back even as temporary teachers. Juleka, Spinelli, and Marc all recall how they faced bullies during their years there.
- Mistaken for Pedophile: Théo is Younger Than They Look thanks to his height and goatee, so when he demonstrates a crush on the obviously underage Scarlet Beetle, everyone ends up on their guard around him.
- Near-Villain Victory: In "Darkblade", the akuma managed to place his flag on city hall and gain control of Paris, turning the remaining civilians to his knights as Scarlet and Ikati have no means to stop him. At the same time, several of Darkblade's knights have killed or seriously maimed their classmates and friends, causing Nathaniel to snap and unleash an Agony Beam onto Darkblade before depowering his akuma
- Nepotism: It's all but stated that Alec rigged the Weather Girl competition so that his estranged daughter could win. Mirielle is understandably furious.
- Noodle Incident: While hiding Scarlet Beetle and Ikati Black from Rogercop, Mme. Bustier comments that this isn't the first time she's hidden political prisoners in her basement. That's the nineties in America for you.
- Oblivious to Love: Kim doesn't notice Théo has a crush on him until it's pointed out to him.
- Oh, Crap!: Nathaniel's reaction when Nooroo explains to him that Pharaoh will likely look for a virgin to sacrifice — and that everyone in his class qualifies.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Adrien is quick to tell that something's off when his father allegedly cancels his birthday party, since this version of Gabriel is far from his controlling canon self. Sure enough, it turns out Chloé hacked his email.
- Original Character: Several are present in the story, such as the members of Ms. Mendeleiev's class and the Austins. Most of them are taken from other stories by the same author.
- Paparazzi: Referenced several times, usually whenever Adrien's friends mention knowing a personal detail about him that they wouldn't otherwise.
- Pet the Dog:
- Nathaniel treats Nooroo quite nicely even as he's using his Miraculous for less-than-moral means. Nooroo himself notes that Nathaniel's one of the nicest wielders he's ever had.
- As Monarch, he's oftentimes empathetic towards the victim's turmoil and makes it clear they don't have to accept the akuma just to have an ear that'll listen to their struggles.
- Police Are Useless: Commented on by Marinette and Alya; the police keep firing on Stoneheart even though it just makes him stronger. The only thing that stops them from trying it again while Stoneheart has a hostage is Ikati Black calling them out on it. During Career Day, Sabrina's inner monologue reveals that the public's opinion of the police fell as a result of videos of their incompetence going viral, hence why she is so nervous about Career Day.
- Relative Error: Due to Théo being Mistaken for Pedophile, Kim freaks out when he sees the former hugging his schoolmate Mireille, only to barely avoid storming over when he sees her hugging back in a familiar matter. He later learns from Ivan that not only is Théo the same age as them, but he's also Mireille's half-brother.
- Role Swap AU: One where Nathaniel gets the Butterfly instead of Gabriel and Kim and Max become the Ladybug and Black Cat heroes instead of Marinette and Adrien.
- Running Gag:
- Nathaniel being a fashion disaster, particularly with his purple jeans.
- The creepy tabloids knowing everything about Adrien.
- Nathaniel's akumas backfiring on him in some way or form.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Many of the teachers are sick of Chloé's Screw the Rules, I Have Connections! attitude, and do what they can to discipline her. In "Rogercop", Mme. Bustier mentions that she and the other teachers have been keeping a record of Damocle's less-then-perfect track record with the students (ie, unfair expulsions and lack of disciplinary action against influential students).
- Sadly Mythtaken: Averted; unlike the original episode, all of the deities Pharaoh calls upon are relatively accurate in relation to the powers they give (for example, he calls upon Khonsu for time powers instead of Thoth).
- Second Super-Identity: Akuma example with Nino. His first akumization was into the Bubbler when he thought Gabriel abruptly canceled Adrien's birthday party for no reason. His second transformation was into Anti-Eros when Chloé sabotaged Max's valentine confession to Kim.
- Shared Family Quirks: Kim's mother, Khuyen, is just as athletic and Competition Freak as her son.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Gabriel quickly picks up on his son's crush on Marinette and approves.
- Both Marinette and Nino want to help Max and Kim get together.
- Shout-Out:
- When discussing a plan to defeat Stoneheart, Scarlet and Ikati explicitly namedrop Be More Chill.
- Nathaniel manages to convince Manon that he's a prince named Wildfire from the planet Tamaran.
- Apparently Adrien went through a Team Rocket phase when he was a child.
- Nathaniel briefly considers basing Jalil's akumatized form on Salaam.
- The Austins are pretty much a gender-flipped, older version of the Ashleys, down to having the same last names. One of them even mentions having a cousin who uses "scandalous" as a catch phrase.
- Nathaniel bases Lady Wi-Fi off of Samara.
- Stalker with a Crush: Marc briefly had to deal with a creepy, slightly older dude mistaking him for a girl, following him, and offering to drive him to school. He responded with a Groin Attack.
- Stalker without a Crush: Vincent Aza is a deranged Loony Fan of Jagged Stone. When he finds out that Cosette did Jagged Stone's makeup for a TV contest in "Simon Says", he follows them to the middle school where Dupont is volunteering.
- Strange Minds Think Alike: Many of the parents wondered whether they were drunk/high when they voted for Mayor Bourgeois after seeing him bow down to her entitled daughter's whims during Career Day. Max wonders the same thing before fighting Rogercop.
- Take That!: After the failure of Mr. Pigeon, a frustrated Nathaniel decides to never use him again — taking a jab at the akumatized villain's status as a recurring Joke Character on the show.
- Thou Shall Not Kill: Anti-Villain variant. Nathaniel makes sure to prevent his akumas from killing people, especially after Darkblade's knights killed several of his classmates before the Miraculous Cure brought them back.
- Token Good Teammate: While everyone in school sees the Austins as jerky rich kids, a few students notice that Tomassian is marginally less awful than his peers. In "Princess Fragrance," when Rose asked him to pass a letter from her to Prince Ali, he was willing to do so before Armbruster tore it up. Other students like Alix and Reshma recall that the worst Tomassian ever does is spread some rumors, which Boulet has him beat in. Whenever the Austins are in a precarious situation, Tomassian would be the one Austin who isn't concerned only about himself.
- Virgin Sacrifice: While it wasn't specified in canon, the ritual Pharaoh plans on using requires a virgin sacrifice. Nathaniel freaks out when he realizes that this criteria applies to everyone in his class (as none of them are old enough to have had sex yet, discounting the ones that explicitly identify as asexual).
- Wham Line: In "Pharaoh", when discussing his crush on Marc, Nathaniel finally reveals why he wants the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses so badly."Yeah, that'll be a great conversation. 'Hey, don't worry, babe, I'm only stealing magical jewelry so I can bring my dad back from the dead'."
- What the Hell, Hero?: Ikati Black calls out the police when they try to pull Not Now, Kiddo on him and Scarlet Beetle and fire on Stoneheart while he has a hostage.
- What Were You Thinking?: Max hisses this at Plagg when he mistakes Chloé's bracelet for cheese. Plagg says that the box holding it looks like a cheese box, which doesn't assure his partner.
