Gotham's Lucky Charm (Daminette)

Ch 7 - Messy Apartment

Marinette was only 14 years old when Master Fu made her the next Guardian of the Chinese Miracle Box.

It had been a desperate situation, and Master Fu's had trusted that she was ready.

But she wasn't. Marinette hadn't been ready for the responsibility. There was still so much that she didn't know about the miraculous which she protected.

Grand-Master Su-Han, the Celestial Guardian of the Mother Box, had helped expand her basic knowledge of the miraculous after Master Fu's had lost his memories. The old monk with extremely bushy eyebrows was her teacher for a month before he left in search of the other missing Miracle Boxes.

Marinette learned that if a Guardian were to wear one of the box's miraculous, their body would slowly develop powers and special abilities that related to the miraculous which they wore.

Master Fu's had worn the turtle miraculous of protection for many years. Because of the protective powers that were constantly surrounding him, the short man had hardly ever fallen ill, and he lived an unusually long life until the age of 186 years. It was the same year that he entrusted Marinette with the title of the Guardian.

Marinette had no choice but to carry the Ladybug and Horse miraculous with her at all times. Paris never knew when Hawkmoth and Mayura would attack.

The Parisian girl was beginning to notice the effects.

She could slowly heal herself and those around her like the miraculous ladybug cure, and she could teleport objects through mini portals that were big enough to fit her hand inside.

These new powers were useful, but also troublesome in some situations.

Like right now.

"Thanks for accompanying me, Red Hood," Marinette said as they walked down the building's last hallway. They reached the door of her apartment. "You probably have some vigilante business to take care of now."

"It was no trouble." Red Hood casually crossed his arms. "Nah, I'll stick around until your wound gets cleaned up."

"Ah, you don't have to do that," said Marinette.

Because of her miraculous side-effect guardian powers, the nasty gash across her shoulder was almost healed. But she couldn't let Red Hood know that.

"That knife made a pretty bad slash," said Red Hood. "You might need stitches. Oh crap, did you see if the blade was rusty? Should I take you to the hospital?"

"Non, no! Je vais bien, I'm fine. American hospitals cost too much. I have a first aid kit and sewing needles inside my room." Marinette pulled out a silver key from her purse. The two kwamis inside the purse hid under a light pink handkerchief.

"A first aid kit won't help if you need a tetanus shot! I'll pay the hospital bill. If you die from tetanus, DeMOn SpAwn iS GoNna KiLL mE!"

"I'll be fine-"

Marinette stopped. Her hand froze with the key still pressed into the door's lock.

Two squeaky voices quietly talked and laughed on the other side of the door. It sounded like Mullo and Trixx: the mouse and fox kwamis.

The kwamis!

If Marinette opened the door, Red Hood would see a miracle box's worth of tiny gods and goddesses flying around the room.

Marinette had told the kwamis that they could play in the apartment room as long as they kept their voices down and didn't cause any mischief.

She should have told them to stay in the box.

"Sunshine, what's wrong?" Red Hood's voice was filled with concern.

"I...uhm...haven't had a chance to clean my apartment yet. It's kind of a disaster at the moment."

"Aye, don't worry about it," Red Hood laughed. "I live with a ridiculous number of adopted brothers and sisters. Messy rooms are normal."

"But I probably left something embarrassing on the floor," Marinette said as she stalled for more time to think of a plan. "I was in a hurry this morning and threw my clothes all over the place-"

"Red Hood? Whatcha doing here? I thought the B-man trusted Pam and me now that we've turned into a couple of goody two shoes."

The Parisian girl and Gothamite vigilante turned to face a woman on the other side of the hallway. She held two plastic bags of Chinese takeout food. Her hair was tied back into twin pigtails, similar to the hairstyle that Marinette had been obsessed with around the time that she was first given the ladybug miraculous. The tips of the woman's blonde hair were dyed red and blue.

Marinette recognized the woman from a Gotham news article.

Harley Quinn: the Joker's ex-girlfriend who had retired from her criminal career three years ago.

"Hey, Harley, how's it going?" said Red Hood. "Actually, I completely forgot that you and Pamela live in this building. I'm here because of your injured next-door neighbor."

Red Hood pointed finger guns in Marinette's direction.

"Oh! Hiya doll!" The plastic bags crinkled loudly as Harley enthusiastically waved at Marinette. "You must be the little lady who moved in yesterday. Ain't you a cutie! The name's Harley Quinn."

"Bonsoir, my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Oooo, she's a Frenchie! Wait. Did ya say she's injured?"

"Shoulder wound from a pocketknife, probably needs stitches," said Red Hood. "Someone decided to jump off a balcony and kick an armed bad guy in the face."

Harley whistled. "Impressive."

"Merci," Marinette said with a smirk.

"NO! Harley, don't encourage her! Marinette may have looked like a total badass while busting that guy's ugly face, but she shouldn't have put herself in danger like-"

Red Hood didn't finish the sentence. He touched the side of the red helmet and mumbled something into his comm.

Harley raised an eyebrow.

"There's a situation at the harbor and Batman needs backup," Red Hood sighed. "I gotta leave. Harley, could you take care of Marinette's wound?"

"Sure thang."

"Bye!" Marinette waved her hand. "Thanks again for taking me here and showing me the scenic route."

"No prob, Sunshine." Red Hood made a peace sign with his fingers as he hurried down the hall. "See ya later."

Marinette's body relaxed as Red Hood disappeared down the stairwell. Now she didn't have to worry about him seeing the kwamis inside her apartment.

"Hey, Mari, have ya had any dinner yet?" Harley Quinn asked.

"Not yet," said Marinette.

A wide grin broke across Harley's face. "Well then, why don't ya come over to me and Pam's place. After your wound is all cleaned up, you can join us for Chinese food. We got more than enough!"

"Really? Thank you! That sounds great."

Marinette pulled the silver key out of the door and left it locked. She followed Harley across the hall to her apartment door.

[Ch 7 - 1,063 words]

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