Chapter Text
Gabriel Agreste had been anticipating this sneaker drop for ages. He had everything ready and his finger was triggered to press the refresh button the second those Air Miraculous Shoes were available. And when the clock struck midnight, he pounced.
They sold out before he got the chance.
“Well, I can’t say I didn’t see that coming,” Gabriel murmured to himself, “They are one of kind after all. But someone might be reselling them, so it couldn’t hurt to check.”
With a couple of clicks and a few searches, Gabriel quickly found what he was looking for, but the sight was not a welcome one.
“This scalper is selling them for how much!?” Gabriel shrieked, but after a moment he collected himself and put on a sinister face, “Well I suppose there are other ways of getting what I need…”
Gabriel stalked over to the portrait of his missing wife, pressed a few hidden buttons, revealed a glass elevator that went to his attic, approached a pedestal that was covered by a light tarp, and tossed the covering aside to reveal a pair of butterfly patterned basketball shoes…
🏀🏀🏀
Coach Fu had just finished putting up the Air Miraculous Sneaker he just bought for sale when he turned to look at his Air Turtle Miraculous Sneakers.
“What was that, Wayzz? You sense the aura of the missing Air Butterfly Miraculous Sneakers?” Fu asked his shoes.
The sneakers didn’t say anything.
“You’re right, Wayzz, we can’t let the Air Butterfly Miraculous Sneakers be used for evil,” Fu got up, but felt a pain in his back from getting up too fast. “Ugh, unfortunately I can no longer do a fast break with this aged body. We’ll need some help.”
The sneakers still didn’t say anything.
🏀🏀🏀
Today sucked.
First Kim made fun of Ivan’s crush, and now he scared her off with his singing. Ivan had put his heart and soul into writing that song for her! This is what he gets for being vulnerable and in touch with his feelings…
Everything sucked.
“Ah, young love! So sweet, it can feel like a dream… But all dreams must end and then we must taste the bitter reality…” A strange man in a basketball jersey who seemed vaguely familiar approached Ivan.
“What are you doing?” Ivan leaned away from the strange man, and upon getting a better look at the man, realized he did actually know of him, “Wait, aren’t you Gabriel Agreste, that fashion mogul?”
“No, I’m Hawkmoth.” The man responded, which made sense since this man looked like he belonged on a basketball court rather than a fashion runway. He was wearing purple basketball shorts and a jersey that had the team name Akumas in big white letters, but Ivan didn’t really know of any teams called that.
“Oh, my bad.”
“Moving on, I can’t help but notice that you are having troubles of the heart. And I wanted to offer you a hand. For you see, athletes are very popular…”
“I mean, so are musicians,” Ivan pouted. Plus he could actually convey how he felt through his lyrics! But then again, that didn’t exactly work out last time.
“Look kid, do you want the expensive basketball shoes or not?” Hawkmoth groaned, pulling out a pair of the new Stoneheart Dunks. They looked brand new, and honestly pretty sweet. Maybe if he got a wardrobe upgrade, Mylene might become less scared of him?
“Uh, sure. But I don’t think I can afford them,” Ivan asked, wondering if his parents would give him an advance on his allowance.
“Oh, for you it’s free, however, I do need you to play in a game for me…”
Ivan wasn’t sure how to feel about Hawkmoth’s evil laughter, but he was giving Ivan free stuff so he couldn’t really judge.
🏀🏀🏀
“This is such a bad idea!” Ladybug wailed, despite having already changed into basketball clothes. “What was I thinking going along with this!?” One minute she was getting ready for school, and the next some crazy guy gave her and some dude she had never seen before these basketball shoes and dragged them to a blacktop court and told them that the fate of Paris was at stake!
“I don’t know, it seems like it’ll be fun,” Chat Noir was practically bouncing on his feet at the chance to play. “I’ve never played basketball with other people before!” Honestly, Ladybug envied his eagerness. For some reason he was taking this whole thing in stride despite also probably being kidnapped on the first day of school.
All Coach Fu told them was to defeat the Akumas, and left two jerseys that fit somehow perfectly. Chat Noir received a black jersey, whereas hers was red with black spots. Ladybug didn’t really understand why they didn’t have the same uniform, but at least they shared their team name, Miraculous , in big white letters on their chest. Also they had domino masks for some reason.
“Maybe it’ll be fun for you, but that’s because you actually know how to play!” Ladybug complained, “I don’t even know the rules. Plus I just know I’m going to mess it up!”
“Uh, I’m not 100% sure on the rules either, but it’s not like there’s going to be a ref, right?” Chat Noir grinned sheepishly, “As long as we dribble the ball and score points, it should be fine, right?” He grabbed one of the spare basketballs Coach Fu gave them, and started to bounce it on the ground, getting control for a second before accidentally kicking it away.
Following his lead, Ladybug also grabbed one of the balls and aimed at the hoop, but the moment the ball left her hands, it hit the rim and the brick bounced back, landing on top of Chat Noir’s head.
“I’m sorry! I should’ve known I’d be way too clumsy to play basketball!” Ladybug grumbled, “Why did Coach Fu even choose us if the fate of Paris is at stake for this game? Couldn’t he find someone on the basketball team instead?”
For some reason he chose Ladybug because she helped him avoid a car in the street, and apparently Chat Noir since he helped him up when he fell. Then he dragged them off to the blacktop, and now Marinette was late for her first day of school!
“I mean, we might not be all-stars right now,” Chat Noir rubbed the top of his head and moved to grab the ball he accidentally kicked while dribbling, “ but it’s nothing a little practice can’t fix!”
“Unfortunately for you two, it appears that you won’t be afforded that luxury,” A smug voice informed them, which caused Ladybug and Chat Noir to notice a man in a purple jersey enter the blacktop half-court.
“Father?” “Gabriel Agreste?”
“No, it’s Hawkmoth.”
“Oh, my bad” The duo apologized in sync.
“Hey, Marinette!” Ivan waved to her behind Hawkmoth, “I didn’t see you at school today, but it’s nice to see that you aren’t sick.”
“Oh hello, Ivan! What are you doing here?” Ladybug was happy to at least see one familiar face.
“This guy said he would give me free shoes if I played a game of basketball with him, but I had no idea you guys were going to be our opponents!” Ivan seemed similarly at ease now.
“Enough pleasantries!” Hawkmoth snapped, cutting the touching reunion short, “You children don’t seem to understand what is at stake here.”
“No, we really don’t,” Chat Noir mentioned, “Coach Fu was kinda vague about it, but it sounded really important. Is this Nationals?”
Ladybug nodded as well, wondering the same as her new partner. But she was pretty sure regionals came before that. Or was it sectionals?
“I should have known you kids would see this as merely a game,” Hawkmoth scoffed, “You don’t understand what’s on the line here. For you see, if you lose this match, which you will, your precious coach will be forced to give up his Air Miraculouses!”
“Wait you mean these?” Ladybug gestured to her feet, “I don’t really see what that has to do with the fate of Paris?”
The shoes were nice and all, but she still didn’t see what was so special about the Air Ladybug Miraculous Sneakers. She honestly hadn’t thought much of it since it fit in with the rest of her basketball clothes. In fact, Chat Noir had also gotten a pair of Air Black Cat Miraculous Sneakers, so she thought they were kind of common.
“And there’s no way we’re going to lose! After all, we’re a shoe -in to win” Chat Noir motioned to his own footwear, which earned an eye-roll from Ladybug. Even if a pun is decent, the proper reaction is always disgust.
“I cannot believe you two are wearing them out here!” Hawkmoth’s eye twitched as he saw how casually these children were treating the Air Miraculouses. “They could get dirty!”
“I mean, they are basketball shoes… Aren’t you supposed to wear them when you play?” Ladybug asked innocently, which only seemed to anger Hawkmoth even more.
“Those are limited edition and were in mint condition! They were one of a kind! Oh no, I can already see the scratches!” Hawkmoth wailed.
While he was busy, Chat Noir pulled Ladybug aside for some last-minute planning.
“Hey Bug, I think we might be at a bit of a disadvantage here. Ivan and Hawkmoth are way taller than us,” Chat Noir said while Hawkmoth moaned over abrasions, whatever that meant.
“Yeah, also I’m pretty sure Hawkmoth is an actual adult.” Ladybug put her hand on her chin, “Meanwhile, here I am and I can barely dribble.”
Well, Ladybug hadn’t tried yet, but it was probably going to be as disastrous as her attempt at shooting.
“Hey, we all have our strengths and weaknesses! I’m actually pretty good at shooting actually! I have a basketball net in my room that I need to score in to bring my piano out of the floor!” Chat Noir told her with complete sincerity.
Ladybug wasn’t entirely sure what to make of that.
“Your house sounds like an architectural nightmare…” Was what she managed in the end.
“Enough of your needless chatter,” Hawkmoth demanded, apparently ignoring his whole rant from earlier, “It’s time!”
“Alright let’s do this!” Ladybug said with false bravado, “We’ll take you both on!”
“Oh no, only Stoneheart is competing.” Hawkmoth informed them, “Although I would most definitely crush you both in a 2v2, I am simply not dressed for the occasion.” He gestured towards his basketball shoes, which must have been some sort of Air Butterfly Miraculous Sneakers. They were wrapped in a thin plastic film.
Yeah, Ladybug did not get sneakerheads at all.
“You see I was planning on having my son join Stoneheart, but I can’t seem to find him anywhere today,” Hawkmoth continued, “I asked Nathalie and she told me he must have been kidnapped. At the very least, he isn’t at school, so I am thankful for that. However after seeing your pathetic display earlier, Stoneheart is clearly more than enough.”
“I don’t mind if they had a little more time to practice,” Ivan offered, but then Hawkmoth muttered something that sounded a lot like free shoes , so Ivan dropped it.
“Let’s get moving, we can’t keep the whole of Paris waiting any longer,” Hawkmoth clapped his hands, and all of a sudden Ladybug realized they had an audience.
A very large audience.
And of course, there were some familiar faces, like her classmates or her parents, but for some strange reason, the entire Parisian police force was sitting in the bleachers, and they had foam fingers and wearing replicas of her jersey. A news station even brought a camera and seemed to be reporting live. There was even an announcer, a referee, even a mascot for some reason.
“Hey Ladybug, I was homeschooled for most of my life, so I’m a little bit in the dark for stuff like this, but is amateur basketball really such a big deal?” Chat Noir asked her, and Ladybug wondered how to explain that she was just as lost as he was.
“I don’t think so? No one mentioned anything about basketball yesterday,” Ladybug offered, “At least it won’t be a complete shutout now. It can’t be that hard if it’s both of us against Stoneheart.”
🏀🏀🏀
It was very hard, even with 2 of them against Stoneheart.
And at halftime, the two were exhausted from all the prancing around, and didn’t have much to show for it. The score was 0-14.
They were losing, badly.
“Can we just give up? I mean the shoes are nice and all, but I’m not sure if they are worth embarrassing myself on Live TV.” Ladybug asked her partner since the first half had been a complete bust.
Stoneheart was so much taller than Ladybug and Chat Noir, so he easily blocked any of their shots. His defense was like a stone wall! And the two of them had to jump to reach his eye level, so he had free shot after shot. On the bright side, he wasn’t the best at aiming, so he missed more than made in, but it didn’t mean much for them considering all of their attempts were blocked. At least it wasn’t as terrible as it could've been, since Ladybug managed to not trip over herself, but that was a pretty low bar.
“Maybe we can ask Coach Fu to choose someone else to replace me. I’m definitely not the right person for the job.” Ladybug looked down as she considered her options. “What about that new girl, Alya?”
Ladybug didn’t even know her that well, but she was that desperate!
“Ladybug, do you remember when Stoneheart missed and the ball was going to hit the people sitting in the stands?” Chat Noir put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. “But it didn’t hurt anyone because you were there to catch it!”
“I mean that’s true but I don’t really get what that has to do with basketball.”
Chat Noir winced as she pointed out the only flaw in his argument.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take?” He tried again, admittedly less sure of himself this time.
“We’re missing 100% of our shots anyways!” Ladybug stomped her foot on the ground in anger.
“Technically they’re all getting blocked. That just means all we have to do is not get blocked!” Chat Noir looked really proud of himself for coming up with that. It was endearing in a way, even if she wanted to throw in the towel.
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?” Ladybug raised a questioning eyebrow, which made him return a guilty smile.
“Good question.” Chat Noir was saved by the bell announcing that halftime was over.
Ladybug's shoulders slouched as she gave up. It was too late to back out or find a sub now. She took a long swig from her water bottle and hoped this half wouldn’t be too humiliating.
“Hey, we’ll be alright. Trust me on this! We can do it!” Chat Noir attempted to cheer her up.
“If you say so…”
As they walked to the top of the three-point line, Ladybug mulled over her options. On the one hand, she hated losing. On the other hand, she also didn’t understand why everyone else cared so much about this game. In what way did the fate of the world have anything to do with Hawkmoth wanting her shoes? Also why were all those people in the audience?
At the very least, she decided she should just do her best for the remaining half. After all, she couldn’t exactly leave Chat Noir on his own.
“Are you alright, Marinette?” Ivan asked when she checked the ball to him.
“Yeah, I guess, Ivan. It’s a little bit embarrassing that we’re losing a 2v1, but it’s probably expected since you’re so much bigger than us.” Ladybug admitted.
“I’m not that great at the game,” Ivan looked thoughtful for a minute before asking what was on his mind, “Hey, so if you could go out with an Athlete or a Musician, which would you choose? Hawkmoth told me I could impress Mylene if I played basketball.”
“I mean it wouldn’t really matter as long as they’re a good person, right?” Ladybug thought about that boy who put gum on their practice bench earlier. Sure he was good-looking, but it didn’t matter if the inside was rotten. Then again, she did cut him off before he could defend himself... She'd deal with that later. “But wouldn’t it be really cool if they were an Athlete and a Musician at the same time?”
“I think that might be a bit too much for me to do at once.” Ivan admitted, “Well, anyways I hope we have a good game!”
Hawkmoth coughed loudly.
“Sorry, I meant give me your Air Miraculous Sneakers” Stoneheart resigned. He returned the ball to complete the check, and the game began.
Ladybug assessed the situation. And started dribbling towards the hoop. Predictably, Stoneheart loomed over her, so unless she managed to catch him off guard, he would send her shot flying. Chat Noir could probably make the shot from where he stood, but alas Ladybug had the ball, so Ivan focused on her.
And at that moment, it was as if her vision turned monochrome. All of a sudden the ball she was bouncing flashed with Ladybug spots, as well as Chat Noir.
Suddenly Ladybug knew what to do.
“Chat! Take this!” Ladybug shouted as she threw the ball towards her partner instead of the net. The spectators watched with bated breath, as they had never seen such an odd tactic before. Even Stoneheart was stunned, frozen to the spot in front of Ladybug.
Chat Noir, however, seemed to be on the same page as her, since the moment he caught the ball, he took the shot and scored Team Miraculous’s first basket!
“What was that!” The announcer shouted into the mic, which broke the silence, causing the audience to roar in confusion as well.
“Is that even legal?” Hawkmoth demanded, which caused the referee to pursue his rule book.
“There’s nothing in the rule book that says otherwise,” The ref ruled, which made Hawkmoth throw his clipboard on the ground in rage.
“Milady, that was ingenious!” Chat Noir shared a double high five with Ladybug, both of them ecstatic to finally make it on the board. “I’ve never seen such a brilliant play before!”
“Yeah, I call it a ‘pass’” Ladybug revealed, “This way we can be able to shoot without being blocked!”
“Alright, it’s time for the comeback!” Chat Noir punched the inside of his hand with renewed vigor.
🏀🏀🏀
With Ladybug’s creative, never-before-seen technique, the two of them had made easy work of the second half. The game ended 26-22.
They had done it.
They won.
“No! You may have gotten the best of me this time, Ladybug and Chat Noir, but soon you will be the ones passing me your Air Miraculouses!” Hawkmoth shouted in frustration.
“Pound it!” Ladybug and Chat Noir shared a fist bump, completely unaware of their arch nemesis’s villainous monologue, before walking over to Ivan.
“Hey, that was a good game!” Chat Noir offered his hand to shake, which Ivan took after a second of surprise, “You were really good at defense! We should play again sometimes.”
“Oh, thanks!” Ivan seemed surprised at the compliment, “But even I’m nothing compared to you guys’s teamwork.”
Ladybug gave a proud smile when she thought of how instrumental her ‘passing’ technique was in their victory.
“But I have to go. Mylene found the lyrics I threw away and thought they were really sweet once she understood them. She wanted to talk to me after the game.” Ivan blushed at that, and Ladybug thought that was just so sweet! “Oh, before I forget, I need to give these to you. The winner gets the loser’s shoes, remember?” Ivan took off his Stoneheart Dunks and handed them to Ladybug.
“Wait, I don’t want these!” Ladybug tried to tell him, but he was already gone.
“These aren’t even my size,” Chat Noir lamented, but quickly recovered since they didn’t even go with his outfit, “So what do we do with these?”
“Bye, bye, little butterfly,” Ladybug said and chucked the shoes in the air.