Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Soulmate Searcher?” Marinette questioned with intrigue and confusion.

“Its an app that just got a global release!” Alya answered. “At first it was only released in America, but it became a huge hit and now it has international servers.”

The designer looked at her friend even more perplexed.

“So why is it so popular now? And why did you want me to install it on my phone?” Marinette inquired.

“Its an app that lets you find the special someone who is your significant other. Alya explained. “Its a tried and true compatibility tester.”

Marinette’s intrigue dissipated, in her mind it was just like those cheesy magazine quizzes they put in magazines to see which celebrity  you would marry. Marinette had long outgrown that phase, especially when last time she took one it did not say she would be paired with Adrien but XY! Gross. 

“Oh. Well count me out. Those quizzes are just a load of…”

“No way lady dude.” Nino chimed in. “This thing is legit. It has the highest matchmaking app back in the States and it is like down to a science and stuff.”

Marinette looked at the DJ skeptically.

Alya placed her hand on her shoulder.

“ It is more then just a personality quiz. You put in your name, your age, dating age range, preference, and so on, and then you answer a bunch of questions that allows the app to gage your personality, mentality and emotional impulse. Then after that's done, it will match you with the top 10 people who have the highest compatibility with you within a 50 mile radius. You can see percentage rates and everything. Then you can decide if you want to message any of the people on the list or block them. They can only see your name, photo and the percentage.” Alya detailed.

“So then all a person needs to do is know what your answers are and copy them.”

“An interesting Hypothesis but sadly incorrect.” Max answered from behind the group.

“Sorry to intrude, but I too had my doubts about the app until I learned about how the app’s algorithm worked. All questions given are randomized and answering the questions the exact same way even if someone did get the same questions does not guarantee 100% compatibility. I made several dummy accounts and rigged them in order to make them both have identical questions and answers, but they did not achieve 100% compatibility.” The class egghead began to explain. 

“Having run the test numerous times with numerous accounts, the algorithm matches people with similar beliefs but not identical,  as having too much in common does not mean soul mate, it can be seen as suffocating. I have not yet cracked the theorem of how to get 100%. The highest I have been able to get is 93%.  It is as if it is a perfect formula for compatibility.”

Marinette had to admit her interest was peeked.

“So its a one time questionnaire and then done?” Marinette pressed with more interest.

“Well the first questionnaire takes an hour or two so it has enough data for a base compatibility profile. Then you answer 10 questions every day for 2 weeks to reaffirm any errors it might have made. Thats how the App is so successful. After about 2 weeks, your profile will be established. It was able to cut the margin of error down to 1.9%” Max exclaimed. “Its the pinnacle of mathematical perfection.”

“Thanks dude, couldn’t have explained it better… really.” Nino thanked the robot enthusiast.

“Anytime, now I must head off. Markov and I have more tests to run.” Max headed out and left the three teens to their own devices.

Marinette thought about it, she really didn’t have much to lose trying it out.

“I even got Adrien to install it. He said he will fill it out after fencing practice.” Alya whispered, a knowing smirk on her face.

Marinette realized she had to do it. What if Adrien was on the app and some other girl had a high compatibility with him before she had a chance to try it. What if he fell in love with that mystery girl, got married and then bought a hamster!? 

“Okay, I will take the quiz!”

“Atta girl!”

Marinette had gone with Alya back to the Dupain Bakery in order to answer the questions in peace.

In Marinette’s room, Alya was relaxing as she watched the Designer answer the questions as honestly as possible.

“Now Girl, odds are the percentage maybe around the 70% mark, But Knowing you and Adrien, I bet you two will make it into the 80′s.” Alya answered.

Marinette nodded, half listening as she focused on answering.

“Nino and I got an 85%, which was pretty high. Ivan and Myléne only got a 79%. So no worries even if its in the 70′s”

“DONE!” Marinette exclaimed as she fell back. She was mentally exhausted. The questions were surprisingly more in depth then she expected.

She pressed submit and waited. Staring at her phone as it ‘processed her answers’

Alya stood up walking over to the bluish-black haired designer.

“Well.”

The list popped up.

Marinette scrolled through from 10 to 1. No Adrien. She felt herself sigh deeply.

“He isn’t on it…” Marinette spoke defeated.

Alya took a look.

“Sorry girl, It might be he hasn’t uploaded his profile yet.” Alya tried to encourage her friend who was burying her head in her pillow. 

“You think?”

“He is a busy guy, but also, you need to see who is number one on the list. A certain guitarist you happen to be fond off.” Alya said with a smile.

Marinette pulled her head up and took her phone. Sure enough, it was Luka who was number one on the list. He had an 80% compatibility rating with her, which was at least 20% higher then the guy in second place. Maybe this was a sign that she should move on from Adrien and ask Luka out.

“Maybe I should message Luka, If he believes in this sort of thing.” Marinette spoke with a blush on her face.

Alya nodded.

“Do what you think is right girl, Adrien or not, you deserve a guy that will make you happy.” 

“Thanks Alya, you are the best.” Marinette smiled sweetly at her best friend.

She clicked on the profile. The pop up asked if she would like to message the user Luka Couffaine.

Marinette paused, she was nervous about doing this. It was as if this was her crossroads. Would she go for it?

“DONE!” Adrien exclaimed as he fell back on his bed. He was mentally exhausted as well as physically. He told Alya he would try out the app as soon as he was free from fencing.

“I don’t get why you even bothered with those dumb questions.” A grouchy floating cat creature commented.

“Its an in depth Compatibility test Plagg. This could be the best way of finding My lady.”

Plagg looked at the model with skepticism.

“What makes you think that you would be matched up with Ladybug? You don’t even know who she is.” 

“We are soulmates, so obviously we will have the highest compatibility.” Adrien answered with confidence as he sat up.

Plagg rolled his eyes.

“You do know just because you were picked to be the cat miraculous wielder doesn’t mean your soulmate is ladybug. There have been Ladybug’s and Chat noir’s that haven’t gotten together.”

“It isn’t because we were chosen together. I can just feel it Plagg. I know we are meant to be. And if for some reason the girl with the highest compatibility with me isn’t Ladybug, I will still likely find someone that I can find myself liking. But knowing my Lady, she and I will have a compatibility of 85 maybe even 90%” Adrien answered with a loving sigh. “Oh, its ready.”

Adrien smiles at his phone before looking at the list.

“Oh Kagami is on here. 79% Thats pretty good. But she is only number two? Huh, so then who is number one?” Adrien spoke aloud as he scrolled. As he saw the name that was number one his face turned beet red and and he fell back on the bed.

“Adrien!?” Plagg exclaimed as he flew to the frozen blond. “What happen…. oh no Fucking way.”

Marinette was about to press the button when another pop up appeared.

“List updated?”

Marinette clicked out of Luka’s profile and noticed he was now no longer in the number one slot.

“Luka got moved to second.” Marinette spoke with surprise.

“What? Then whose first?”

Marinette scrolled up. Her eyes went wide in shock.

“ADRIEN!?!?” Marinette shouted.

Alya smiled.

“I knew it! I told you he would be on your list! And Number one to boot. So what  is the percentage. 82? 85% Like Nino and I?”

“100…” Marinette spoke hardly audible.

Alya couldn’t hear her.

“How much?”

Marinette turned her phone to Alya.

Alya’s jaw dropped.

“1…. 100%!!!!!!!!!!”

Plagg could not contain his laugher. The blond was still frozen staring at his screen. Adrien had no idea how right he was. His Lady and him were perfect for each other. Plagg was absolutely loving every second of this. 

“P-Plagg.”

The black cat managed to calm down.

“Ye Ha HA! Yea Adrien?” Plagg responded between laughing fits.

“Marinette is Ladybug.”

Plagg sobered up quick.

“What… What makes you say that?” Plagg spoke, trying his best and failing at hiding the fact that Adrien was right. Thankfully Adrien was too out of it to notice.

Plagg pauses.

“Ladybug is my soulmate, Marinette scored perfect compatibility with me  on the soulmate app. Even with error included, the chances of that happening are…”

“It’s a silly quiz.” Plagg shouted. Tikki would kill him if Adrien found out at the wrong time. He had to play dumb.

Adrien thought about it, maybe he was overthinking it, plus Alya and Nino scored around 85%. Maybe the system was glitching out? 100% was unheard off according to what he found about the app, even with people who tried it and have been married for decades.

“I guess you are right… Besides, you answer questions each day, the percentages will shift. Maybe the system will correct itself, though I should ask Marinette what her thoughts are about the match up tomorrow. Though… even if it isn’t Ladybug… Marinette is a pretty nice person to have good compatibility with.”

Adrien felt himself entertaining the thought of him and Marinette together. It seemed really, really nice. He found himself blushing at the thought. He quickly shook the thought off. He was getting ahead of himself. What if Marinette didn’t feel the same way he did? What if Luka saw the compatibility score that Marinette got with him and decided not to date Marinette because of it. Marinette does really like that musician, what if Marinette hates him for ruining her chance at happiness!?

Adrien took a calming breath. He won’t say anything, the app still needs to fine tune his profile. he is sure it will correct itself if it needs to within the two weeks, after that, he will look into it.

“I am sure that things will fix themselves.” Adrien said as he turned away from the cat Kwami, though part of him really hoped that the 100% would stay.

Alya could not believe her eyes. But as clear as day on her friend’s phone the facts were present. Marinette had 100% compatibility with Adrien Agreste.

“Girl… that is amazing.” Alya managed to say through her shock.

Marinette couldn’t even form words, her face was as bright and red as fire. She felt like she would combust. Sure, she said that Adrien was her soulmate, and sure she has taken a quiz or two where she was matched with Adrien, but THIS?! This was a completely different feeling, it felt real.

Alya managed to pick up her jaw.

“Chloé would have a heart attack if she found out about this.” Alya spoke with a smirk.

That statement brought Marinette crashing back to earth.

“You can NOT tell Chloé! You can’t tell anyone!” Marinette exclaimed in panic.

Alya looked at her confused.

“Why not? This is the perfect chance to stick it to that spoiled brat! Not to mention it will help show everyone else that you are a perfect match for Adrien.”

“What would Adrien say? What if he sees me talking about this, using it as some sort of leverage. That is something so Lila like. I can’t do that!”

“I think you mean Chloé-like” Alya corrected

“No I didn’t. The main point is it wouldn’t be right to do that. What if Adrien doesn’t take this seriously and seeing someone he considered his friend using it to keep other girls off of him. He would think I am some sort of possessive creeper.” Marinette explained.

Alya considered her friends opinion and was going to tell her that she was overthinking it, but she actually made a fair point, it does seem kind of gross to try doing something like this.

“That is true, not to mention Mr.Model is pretty popular. You mentioning your compatibility might cause his fan club to try and slay you, or get akumatized if you aren’t careful.” Alya agreed.

“You mentioned earlier that each list is private, and that no one else can see it unless the person decides to show other. I should ask Adrien what he thinks about the whole thing… Tomorrow!” Marinette answered. “So please don’t mention it to anyone, including Nino. At least until I talk to Adrien about it.”

“I promise I will wait for your okay on the matter. But You know you can just message Adrien through the app or just call him.” Alya pointed out with a teasing smile.

“I… I might turn to jelly if I do that now.” Marinette confessed.

Alya sighed with a soft smile. She loved her best friend with all of her quirks.

“Alright, though this might be your only chance to message him at 100% compatibility. The 10 questions from tomorrow might change things, after all, you can only go down from 100%.” Alya pointed out after giving her friend a hug.

“Ill take my chances.” Marinette answered.

Alya grabbed her stuff and decided to head back home. Marinette waved and made sure her friend left before letting everything completely hit her again.

“So perfect compatibility?” a floating ladybug themed creature asked innocently as she floated out of her hiding spot.

“Thats Right Tikki! Adrien! We are 100% compatible. I never thought it was possible, but here it is!” Marinette swooned. “I can picture it all now.”

“We talk at school, Adrien admits that once he saw that we were compatible, he realized he was in love with me the whole time. We start dating, then go steady after university. After which we get married and have three kids….”

“That is quite a reaction from one questionnaire. How do you know its legitimate? You always did say that those magazine quizzes were nothing but junk.” Tikki answered.

“They are Tikki, but this one has a lot more to it then colors determining what model you would date! This is something in depth, it just feels more real. I just know it in my heart that there is something to this.”

Tikki nuzzled Marinette’s face.

“Well I support you. Maybe this was just the thing you needed to go after Adrien. That thing is only a bunch of questions until you act on it.” Tikki encouraged.

“Thanks Tikki. I knew I could count on you.”

The red kwami smiled, Marinette was starting to sound like Chat noir with all the talk of soulmates and fated to be together. Tikki couldn’t help but wonder how she would react if she knew she was 100% compatible with Chat noir.

“Good evening my lady.” Chat noir purred.

He happily approached his red clad partner who was waiting for him on the rooftop of a rather tall building. 

The evening sky in Paris seemed far more elegant then normal. His crimson clad partner seemed to have an ethereal glow to her. Oh how beautiful she looked in the light of the full moon. He could swear that he could hear music, as if the night was singing for them.

“Hello my kitty. How are you doing?” Ladybug answered as she moved closer to her cat partner.

“Quick question bugaboo. Have you heard of an app called Soulmate searcher?” Chat noir cooed as he took Ladybug’s hand in his. The action felt so natural, Ladybug intertwined her fingers with his as the space between them grew smaller

“Why yes Chatton I have. Do you have something to tell me?” She inquired with an alluring smile. 

“Why yes. I believe the app has helped me find you. I recently took the quiz and found out that I had 100% compatibility with someone. So of course it must be you.” Chat noir spoke as his head moved closer as if he was going in to kiss her. Until he sees she pulled away. He pauses. She let go of his hand and stepped back, her smile gone. A look of shock and heartbreak apparent on her face. The night's melody that he believed he had heard earlier had ceased.

“My lady?”

“I never got 100% with anyone chat noir.”

She took a step away from him.

“W-what?”

“I am sorry my cat prince, but even though I have started to fall for your rugged good looks and your beautiful heart, I can’t be with a man that is clearly far more compatible with someone else. I wish you the best, but you broke my heart. Goodbye my love."

Ladybug seemed so much farther away then she was moments before.

“My lady! No it doesn’t mean anything! Wait!” he said as he tripped forward. Ladybug going farther and farther away from him.

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Adrien found himself in the library of his school. He was seeing his close friend Marinette who was crying angry tears.

“Marinette, I am so sorry.”

Slap! 

He hardly felt it, most likely from the pain he already felt seeing her this way.

“Because of that stupid test. Luka turned me down. He said he couldn’t be with someone who had more compatibility with another guy, as if me dating him would be cheating me out of a better match! I had spent Months gathering up the courage to ask him out. All of it gone to waste because you just HAD to score higher. If you were my friend, you would have never joined that stupid app.”

“Marinette please don’t hate me. I had no idea. I will talk with Luka, I am sure I can…”

“You have done enough. I never want to see you again. I hate you! I wish I never met you!” Marinette stormed off. The blond model felt his heart break at his classmates words. He walked to try and get her, he paused as he noticed an akuma following behind her.

“Marinette! There is an akuma behind you!” 

He tried to reach out but his calls were on deaf ears. He tried to run to her but his leg were heavy and he couldn’t reach her. It was like he was at a slow fixed speed and Marinette and the akuma were just out of reach.

The bookshelves around him shaking as books began raining down on him.

“Marinette!

Adrien shot up from his bed. He was sweating. He touched his face and there was no pain. Nightmares… those were not real at all.

He looked around, he heard plagg snoozing like a lawnmower.

“Oh good. it was all a dream.” He spoke to himself in relief. He fell back into his bed. His mind still thinking about his vivid nightmares. He hoped that those stayed nightmares, but he would know for sure tomorrow.

The next day came quickly. Adrien and Marinette hardly slept. They grabbed their phones and noticed that their profile was ready for their first set of new questions.

Adrien answered the first few as he was getting ready in the bathroom.

Marinette answered some of hers as she got her stuff together for school.

Marinette answering questions as she walked to school and Adrien answering as he got out of the car that his bodyguard drives him in. They got to the last questions at the same time. 

They stopped moving wherever they were as they waited for their profiles to update.

after a minute, the update finished.

Adrien noticed that Kagami had went up by 2% and was now at 81% compatibility.

Marinette noticed Luka has jumped to 82% after answering.

The two teens scrolled up to the number one spot on the list. Still as clear as yesterday. 100%

“So it didn’t change.” They both commented out loud. They looked up from their phones to see the other across from them as they were just about to enter their homeroom class together.

Both teens quickly put their phones in their pockets, now looking right at one another.

“Hi HEY! Hello Adrien.” Marinette stumbled, her face was red and she felt like kicking herself for that greeting.

Adrien smiled nervously, his face also red. It felt so much more real now that he was looking at Marinette face to face.

“H-hey Marinette.” Adrien responded. “Doing something on your phone?”

“Phone? What Phone! I don’t phone.” Marinette garbled. She wanted to die.

Adrien felt himself get more nervous. He could tell she was doing the same thing he was, she was answering questions on her phone for Soulmate searcher. Thats why the list updated so quickly and her picture on the list had a small green light on the right corner, which says it was updated.

“So, are you… do you play…” Adrien tried to get the words out. Why was he so suddenly nervous talking to Marinette. It feels like he trying to talk to Ladybug without his mask. He feels naked and vulnerable. “Soulmate searcher?”

Marinette’s eyes went wide.

“Yea, I do. Do you?” Marinette managed to answer without stammering.

“Yea… tried it out yesterday and…”

The morning bell rang, interrupting their conversation.

“Thats the bell, we should get inside before we get…”

Adrien caught her arm.

“Wait. Can I talk to you later? Please?” Adrien asked, his eyes showing a softness that made Marinette ever more so drawn to his emerald eyes.

“Sure Adrien. I love y to! I would love to talk.” Marinette responded, Adrien let go of her arm. He smiled softly. He was relieved that she wasn’t mad.

“Great. Library? His mind flashed to the nightmare he had the night before. “I mean… locker room? Should be abandoned by Lunchtime.”

“O-Okay.” Marinette responded. She opened the door and they both walked into the classroom. Maybe they would be lucky and no one was even talking about that app.

Chapter Text

Chloé hated this stupid app.

How is Adrien not on her list of compatible matches? Clearly the app was broken and not worth everyone’s time especially not her own. She and Max have been arguing about it since he overheard her complaining about the stupid thing. What made the whole thing worse was that most of the class seemed to agree with him. Chloé wanted to shove the phone and app so far up that nerds butt, he would be barfing pixels.

“…The whole thing is a trashy internet quiz for people who have no lives.” Chloé exclaimed to Max just as Marinette and Adrien entered the room.

“It isn’t some ordinary internet quiz. There is so much more to it. The amount processing of data and use of algorithmic solutions that would take months to explain, you would not even understand a fraction of. I have yet to crack the formula. But I guarantee that it is more then trash.” Max defended vehemently.

Adrien decided to avoid getting involved as he tried to slowly move to his seat, but unfortunately, Chloé’s vision noticed his movement and pounced.

“Adrikins!” She exclaimed in a saddened tone as she pushed passed Marinette to get to him. “Please tell me you don’t believe all the crap about this stupid app?”

The model scratched his head. He noticed Marinette looking at him, he could tell she was curious about his answer. 

“Why do you think the app is not effective.” Adrien deflected. He wanted to avoid talking about his views on the app until he talked with Marinette.

Chloé gasped.

“For like so many reasons! For one thing the questions are these weird riddles that make no sense! Like why would I even WANT to touch money that is on the floor? I don’t care who it belongs to! Not to mention it doesn’t let you make a new profile if you delete it! I tried making a new one but it just gave me all of the same information and profile I had before deleting.”

“It is a countermeasure to avoid fraud!” Max answered. “Since you already put in your original name, photo of yourself and age, if you tried putting the exact information in, it will simply reconnect you to the old account to avoid people trying to cheat the system. My test accounts got deleted yesterday because they found out I used stock photos for them.

Chloé rolled her eyes.

“But most importantly is that it completely messed up my matches. Look at these losers!”

Chloé showed Adrien the list, she had a few in the 70% range. Adrien did believe some of the guys on that list did go to this school. 

“Of course if this list was legitimate, you would be on the list.”

Adrien noted that fact as a point on why this app has credibility.

“Its just a dumb app. You didn’t buy into this did you Adrikins?”

Adrien took a step back, looking for some way out.

“I… uh…”

Thankfully for Adrien, Madame Bustier stepped in.

“Alright Class, Everyone to your seats”

The class quietly stopped talking and moved back to their seats.

The designer was watching the model in the seat in front of her. What did Adrien think of the App? Did he want to tell her that he believes in it completely and wants to try going out with her? Is he angry about it and feels that she is now standing in the way of his potential relationship with Kagami? 

Marinette shakes her head, this was not gonna turn out like her nightmare from last night. She had a rather stressful nightmare where Adrien was super sad about the app and blamed her for messing up his chances with Kagami. But thankfully this seems to not be like her nightmare at all. Adrien wanted to meet her in the locker room, not in the library, her nightmare was now not gonna come true….. she hoped.

She noticed Adrien look back at her.. He mouthed the word ‘lunch’ to her. She could tell he was confirming their meet up that day. She gave a quick nod. Adrien smiled and turned back. The brief smile giving her a touch of comfort.

 I apologize for being late, their was a discussion in the teacher’s lounge about an interesting new phone app.” The red headed teacher confessed.

“Was it Soulmate Searcher?” Rose asked. The blond rising from her seat as she asked.

“I believe that was the name of it. My colleague mentioned that their sister was trying it out and has a date with someone they met on the app.” Ms.Bustier replied.

“Are you thinking of trying it out?” Myléne inquired.

“There will be plenty of time to talk about that stuff after class.” The teacher said with a soft smile. Though she didn’t let on She was the one that had tried out the app and was in the teacher’s lounge messaging her date for Friday. 

As class began, in the corner of the room sat a brunette that had interestingly kept herself out of the whole discussion about the app. She looked at the app and at her profile. She had not answered a single question, if she wanted to match up with the guy she wanted, she needed to be careful.

“Adrien! Where are you going? I really wanted to continue our conversation from earlier.”

“I am sorry Chloé. I am in a hurry, I have something really important thing to do during lunch. We can talk later.” Adrien answered as he quickly headed out of the class.

Marinette wondered what the model was referring to, she could of sworn that Adrien wanted to talk with her during lunch. Something important must have come up. Marinette got up from her desk and held in her sigh. Maybe it wasn’t that important that they talked.

As she was about to head out for lunch, her phone buzzed.

 at the locker room 

Marinette turned red, she was the important thing he needed to do. She mentally slapped her self for phrasing it that way.

“Important message?” Her best friend cooed.

“I well umm.” Marinette stammered.

“Relax Marinette, I am just teasing.” Alya assured.

She went to her ear.

“Don’t worry about yesterday, that is staying between us.”

“Thanks Alya.  You are the best.” Marinette whispered back before heading out of the classroom.

“Hi Alya.” a familiar voice called from behind the reporter.

“Oh hey Lila. Hows it going?”

“I am alright, I just wanted to ask if you know anything about the new app that has gotten popular. ‘Soulmate searcher’. I heard Max and Chloé arguing about it and I was curious.” The exchange student inquired.

“Oh its great! Pretty much the entire school is trying it out. Are you thinking about getting into it?”

“Well, I am usually apprehensive about trying out apps that give out personal information. I imagine Adrien and Prince Ali would be the same considering how popular they are.”

“Oh its completely safe. Max has tried hacking into it over a dozen times, their cyber security is solid, and I can assure you Adrien has an account.” Alya eased.

“Oh that is a relief. But do you think the app is just a silly quiz or do you think there is more to it? I wouldn’t want to get my hopes up on meeting my soulmate on here if it doesn’t work.”

“Well Nino and I have a compatibility of 85% as of this morning, so I would say it matches up pretty well. Ivan, Kim, Myléne, Rose, Marinette and Juleka say that the match ups were accurate.”

“Marinette said her match ups were accurate? Who did she match up with? I am sure they are a great guy.” Lila prodded with a faux smile that would fool most people.

Alya hesitated, she realized she was getting into some dangerous territory. She couldn’t just reveal Marinette’s list its personal.

“I shouldn’t be talking about who was on her personal list. Everyone’s list is only visible to them and it would be an invasion of privacy unless she told you directly.” 

“Of course. I just felt bad that Marinette and I haven’t been getting along and I wanted to see if I could help her get set up with one of her matches. Perhaps putting in a good word for her.” Lila lied.

“Thats really nice of you Lila. but you don’t need to worry about Marinette she will be fine.” Alya assured

“Thats good to hear. Please let Marinette know that if she does want help she can reach out to me.” Lila answered. “I think I will give this app a go. Thanks Alya.”

“Glad I could help.”

Lila kept up her smile as she left the classroom, once she was out of Alya’s sight. Her eyes narrowed and her smile vanished.

Marinette is someone who has a clear crush on Adrien. Alya telling me that Marinette will be fine with her list means that Adrien must be Somewhere on the rankings. I need to find out how high and Beat that percentage. But to do that. I need to find her list… or I need to see Adrien’s.

Lila smiled at the thought. Adrien was a much easier target, all she needed to do was find him, and then she can find out everything she needs to know.

Marinette quickly headed to the locker room where Adrien was patiently waiting.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting.” Marinette answered as she caught her breath from sprinting.

“Its fine Marinette. I am glad you could make it.” Adrien responded with a soft smile that made the girls heart melt.

“So… what did you want to talk about?” Marinette asked with cautious optimism.

Adrien felt himself blush a bit.

“I was gonna ask about what you thought of the app. The one we were both using this morning. You know…” Adrien scratched the back of his head with his left hand. He felt awkward.

“O-Oh! Um, well. I think that its a bit more then just a random set of questions like chloé said.” Marinette starts off. She wanted to say that she believed it full heartedly, that it was as if cupid himself crafted the perfect matching system for her and Adrien. But she remembered the dream she had last night, she remembered how angry he was in her dream. She needed to know what he was feeling about the app. “Though of course its still updating! The profile could change at the drop of a hat while its calibrating. I remember Alya mentioning that it could fluctuate and any number set up now isn’t set in stone.”

“Even if its 100?” 

The question hung in the air just as much for her as it did for him. They were both aware of their compatibility test score.

“I never heard of a case like this. Do you think it was a bug?” Marinette asked. internally thinking that he was not pleased that they were both 100% compatible. She felt her heart crack at the thought.  “Alya mentioned that she and Nino were only at 85% and they are super close. So… I can’t be certain.”

“I don’t know. It might be possible that something glitched out. It did only recently get a global release.” Adrien answered. He looked at her closely, waiting to see her relived reaction that she doesn’t need to take this so seriously. Truthfully, he didn’t entirely believe something happened. The more Adrien thought about it, Marinette did seem like someone that he could align with on a lot of things. Sure they had different perspectives and even did have some differing opinions, it made them both learn. If he was being completely honest, she was one of the people he is glad was high on the list. 

Marinette tried her best to disguise her sorrow from the thought of their 100% was somehow not valid. It hurt to think about. 

“But considering it was with you. I can believe it was a high a number at least. So it being 100% could be valid.” Adrien answered.

Marinette’s face blushed at his words. Did he just say that he thought she and him were highly compatible?

FUCK! I just said that I honestly thought that Marinette and I were highly compatible. She had given me the chance to dismiss this as anything serious and I messed it up! Why did I say that? Sure I think its true but she will be angry just like in my nightmare and get akumatized. Adrien mentally screamed

“It is possible.” Marinette spoke up. “ I can’t see how having someone I already know being compatible with me would be a bad thing.” 

“There is also the course of the profile correction. We still have 13 more days of fine tuning our profiles. So things on the list could shake up, should you want that.” Marinette answered quickly.

“Thats true. No need to jump in on this too quickly.” Adrien sighed with relief. Marinette was handling this rationally, which made sense, Marinette always knew how to clear her head and look at things objectively. That was why she was so good at figuring out how to help people. 

It is one of the reasons I like her. 

Adrien’s thought surprised him for a second but he quickly recovered and snapped back to the conversation to catch her response. 

“Yea… no need to think to much of it.” Marinette agreed, her tone a touch sadder then before.

“Yea. I am glad we both aren’t overthinking this too much.” Adrien smiled softly. “I am glad we could talk about this.”

“Of course…” Marinette was doing her best not to let her face betray her feelings

Adrien turned and started to walk off before stopping just short of the door. 

“Marinette?”

“Yes?” Marinette jolted, not expecting anymore words from the model.

“After the profiles are complete, and if we are both number one on the other’s list. Do you want to… give it a shot?” Adrien asked as he tried to keep his tone steady, His face was beat red as he was doing something on complete impulse. “If you want to that is. You are free to say no.”

Marinette felt her face burn at his question.

“Yes! I mean sure. It is worth trying out.” Marinette responded.

Adrien turned to her. He had a soft genuine smile that made Marinette feel as if cupid had struck her in the heart once again. But what he said next made her feel like Cupid dropped a tank on her.

“Thank you Marinette. It would be pretty nice if one of my best friends turned out to be my soul mate.”

Marinette could swear her heart just went nuclear.

The rest of the school day was a blur for Marinette. She felt like she was practically floating through her classes. Sure her notes might have suffered, but thankfully Alya was more then willing to share hers.

Marinette practically skipped home as she greeted her parents at the entrance.

“Hello my little macaroon, How was school?” Her papa asked as he pulled out a  tray of freshly baked bread.

“It was wonderful.” Marinette singsonged.

Her father put the tray down. Hugging his daughter and handing her a macaroon. Marinette smiled at her baker dad and thanked him before running up to her room.

Marinette went up to her room and jumped for joy. Her red Kwami companion flew out of her jacket.

“Can you believe it Tikki? Adrien said he was happy that we were compatible! He does see me as more then a friend.” Marinette swooned.

“It appears that one little app has a way of changing one’s perspective on things. I am happy for you Marinette.” The red kwami spoke as she flew to hug Marinette’s cheek.

“Life is full of surprises and small things can make big changes, you are a prime example of that Tikki. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to be ladybug.”

Tikki smiled at the comparison.

“You flatter me.” Tikki giggled.

Marinette pulled out her phone and opened the app. Smiling as she looked at her compatibility list. Adrien’s picture right beside the number 1 and the ‘100%’ compatibility. It was such a beautiful sight.

Marinette knew it was a bit early to be super excited but she couldn’t help but feel a little excited as she felt her mind filled up with possible future scenarios of what it would be like dating Adrien. 

Walking through the park and getting ice cream, playing video games, having Adrien model some of my in progress designs, us having dinner with mama and papa, kissing in a movie theater. Oh and I would need to tell chat noir that I was in a relationship and he would need to cut out the flirting.

Marinette found that thought snap her back to the real world. Tikki noticed her change in expression.

“Marinette?” 

The designer moved to her bed and sat down. Her mind replaying that thought.

She would have to tell Chat noir.

She doesn’t want to string him along, and she has been saying that she had feelings for another guy. This shouldn’t be bothering her as much as it was. She wasn’t a fan of his constant flirting especially during an akuma battle … but there were also those moments, when he dropped the flirty attitude, when he was genuine and sweet, the moments when he would do anything for her, the moments where he showed why she and him made such a good team. It was in those moments that seemed to pop up more and more that made her… question her feelings about him.

 But she knew that she was still in love with Adrien however, she still didn’t want to break his heart. The cat was a good guy and a good partner. She would need to tell him the truth if things did happen between her and Adrien, it was only right.

“What I am gonna tell Chat noir?” Marinette asked more to herself then to her Kwami.

Tikki paused. Of course that was a factor. Marinette wasn’t aware of the truth. But it wasn’t like she could tell Marinette that Adrien was Chat noir, even though she really wanted to.

“I am sure that when the time comes, everything that needs to happen will happen. Who knows, maybe chat noir is using the app and ends up finding someone he is compatible with. There is still plenty of time before anything needs to be said.”

Marinette smiled a bit, Tikki did have a point. Maybe the cat would find someone. She would want that person to treat him well, so when they do reveal their identities, she will make sure that girl will be a good person. Maybe she and Adrien can go on double dates with chat noir. Of course Marinette realized she was getting ahead of herself again.

“You’re right Tikki. I am getting a head of myself. It might also be too early to assume that Adrien and I do remain 100% compatible or even at the top of the other’s list. I guess I was just happy there was a chance.”

The ladybug Kwami nuzzled her chosen’s cheek.

“Regardless of outcome, app or not, wherever your heart goes will be somewhere wonderful.” Tikki promised.

“You know looking at that screen for too long is bad for your eyes.” a black cat Kwami commented. 

Adrien was laying on his couch as the news played in the background. he wasn’t really paying much attention to the world around him.

Adrien hardly even remembered getting home, the day was pretty much a blur after his talk with Marinette. His conversation with her replaying in his mind. His eyes looking at the open app at his compatibility list. Marinette’s picture right beside the number 1 and the ‘100%’ compatibility. The more he looked at it, the more he kept finding himself thinking it fit.

“Adrien? Earth to Adrien?” Plagg flailed his arms as he tried to get Adrien’s attention.

The model smiled as he started to think about all of the things that could happen if she and him started dating.

Double dates with Nino and alya, Going out for ice cream in the park, going to those charity events that father funds but never attends, Marinette cheering me on in my fencing matches. maybe she could even join in on learning Chinese with me. Marinette did say she wanted to learn more and having someone learn with me would be pretty great. Going to the movies together and kissing… But what about ladybug.

Adrien felt his thoughts snap back to the real world where he noticed Plagg trying to get his attention.

“Hello? Earth to Mr. oblivious! Can you hear me.”

“Plagg, what am I gonna tell Ladybug?” Adrien questioned as his smile began fading.

Plagg stopped his attention seeking.

“Oh, so when you want to talk now you want to listen.” Plagg rolled his eyes.

“Sorry Plagg, what were you going to say.” Adrien apologized. Adrien sat up to listen to his Kwami companion.

“Can you get more of that cheese with the orange rind? That one is Delicious.” Plagg inquired.

Adrien sighed.

“Sure, I will put an order in this weekend.”

Plagg smiled.

“Okay, now what were you saying about Ladybug? Weren’t you convinced she Marinette was Ladybug because of that whole soulmate bit?” Plagg commented, but then realized he might be implying Marinette is ladybug and quickly spoke up again. “Which is not to say that I am saying it is or is not her.”

“I know Plagg. It would be amazing if Ladybug and Marinette were the same person, but with my luck, it is likely not the case. It is already beyond my normal luck that someone I know is 100% compatible with me, and its someone as wonderful as Marinette.” Adrien answered. "Besides, Marinette can't be Ladybug. Remember, she was that cute Mouse heroine, Multimouse."

Adrien took a moment to remember seeing Marinette as the mouse heroine. She did look cute in that little hair buns. It sucks that she can't be Multimouse again, but maybe he could talk with Ladybug about that later. Maybe give her a different miraculous. But right now he should be getting back on topic. He remembered what he was going to say.

“I have been chasing Ladybug for so long. I wanted to hold out hope that maybe she would come to fall in love with me. But I think I can’t ignore the possibility that Ladybug is stuck on that other guy. I am gonna need to tell her I am giving up my pursuit.”

“Wow, don’t you think thats unnecessary? Why not just not mention it while you date Marinette in case things don’t work out with Marinette?” Plagg points out.

“Plagg, its Marinette were talking about, she is an amazing person and I doubt I would ever want to not date her. The only way it wouldn’t work out is if I messed up badly, like not giving up on Ladybug. It wouldn’t be fair to Marinette that I am leaving a part of my heart for Ladybug. Thats why what happened with Kagami in the Ice rink went so shaky, I didn’t let go like I thought I did. So I need to let Ladybug know the truth.” Adrien explained.

Plagg nodded. He understood how Adrien had this mindset of being 100% into something or was not interested at all. He rarely half-assed things if ever. Fencing? 100% invested. Piano? 0% only plays because his mother did and his father wants him to continue, except when they are playing together. Adrien was someone that when he can be emotional, he was all for it. It was part of what made him a great Chat noir.

“Alright, but you do still have time before then. So you don’t need to worry so much yet. Just relax and let things happen how they happen.”

“I think you are right Plagg, I will let things happen as they happen. No need to push yet.” Adrien said relieved.

“Yup, the best option is usually the one that requires no effort.” Plagg advised.

“I don’t think thats always true.” Adrien disagreed.

“Things would be less complicated if you just relaxed more.”

Adrien was about to respond, but his phone buzzed. He looked to see a text from Nino.

‘Dude, did you get the Soulmate searcher App? Alya mentioned you would try it out’

Adrien responded

‘Yea’

‘Nice dude! so who did you get on da list? Can you snap a pic?’

Adrien Paused. It was a private list, He really shouldn’t be sending it out. But it was Nino and Nino can keep it a secret.

‘Promise not to share it with anyone?’

‘Alya too?’

‘Alya can know but no one else? Promise?’

‘Bros honor’

Adrien hesitated for a moment. But he trusted Nino. He took a screenshot and sent Nino the pics.

Plagg looked at Adrien.

“You might want to wrap up that conversation.” Plagg answered as he pointed to the tv.

Adrien looked to see the news was reporting an Akuma attack.

“Plagg Claws out!”

“Thanks for watching Chris for me on such short notice. I really wanted to check out that sale on new headphones and Chris isn’t exactly feeling so great. I don’t want to drag him out of bed when he is feeling like this. You are really clutch right now Lila.” The Dj praised 

“Its no problem at all Nino. Thanks for letting me borrow your phone to message my mom. Mine really needs to charge right now.” Lila replied

“You are really doing me a solid. Just let me know when your mom responds.” Nino assured. “I am gonna let Chris know you will be watching him for a bit. I think he will be thrilled, the little guy loves it when you babysit, but don't tell him I said that.”

“I promise I won't say a word, Chris is such a fun little kid to be around. I am glad I can help out. Also no worries, take your time.” Lila assures.

She was was watching the phone closely. Waiting for Adrien’s response.

A minute passes and the picture shows up.

The brunette smiles as she forwards the 2 photos to her phone from Nino’s phone and then deleting the exchange between her and Nino. She covers her tracks. Deleting the messages between Adrien and her after sending a final text.

‘Nice, we can talk about it tomorrow.’

She smiles as she exits out of the texting app on the phone.

“I am all done.” Lila calls out. 

Nino walks back in and happily takes his phone, unaware of the events that just transpired.

“Hope you get a good deal.” Lila exclaimed as she waved Nino off. The door closes and Lila smiles.

She goes to her phone that had been charging.

“Now lets see where Marinette is on this list.”

Lila clicked the photo and started at the bottom of the list. The first photo was the bottom half of the list.

“She isn’t below the top 5, this might be a bit of a pain.” Lila groaned.

Lila still felt confident, 

So what if Marinette ranked in the top five. I just need to find the number one person and copy their answers and beating that annoying pigtailed pest will be easy.

Lila clicked on the other photo to look to see who was on it.

“Kagami is number two? Ugh! Another pain to deal with later. But wait, Marinette isn’t anywhere below the second spot… No…”

Lila looked at the first place spot and her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. Marinette was at the TOP. She was ranked number one? And just when Lila thought it couldn’t get any worse, she saw the compatibility percentage.

“No way…” Lila dropped her phone.

“You have to be Fucking kidding me!!” Lila screamed loud enough to be heard from outside. But Nino had put his headphones in as he was heading out and just missed hearing the girls anguish.

Chapter Text

“City of Love? Ha! There is no love in this city!” The akuma shouted angrily at the sky.

The akuma in question seemed to be a mix of human and bird. With sharp Eagle like talons on her feet. Her Arms were replace with large hawk wings that she used to fly. Beautiful Green feathers covered her wings and body which looked like a giant bird, leaving her head and neck that looked to be the only human parts of her, having Eagle eyes and a mask reminiscent of a butterfly, with her long wavy brown hair. Around her neck was a necklace with a small golden eagle creature on it.

There were countless feathers piercing the ground all over the place. It seems the akuma was leaving quite an impression.

A cat themed hero jumped onto a roof where a red clad heroine was observing.

“Afternoon Bugaboo. And what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you today.” The cat flirted.

“An akuma unfortunately.” The heroine said with her usual serious tone. Though she seemed more annoyed then usual. Not that she ever was happy to fight an akuma but she was not really in the mood for an akuma attack.

“So what’s this one’s deal?”

Ladybug simply pointed to the akuma with little enthusiasm as if on cue the akuma answered the cat's question.

“How can this be a city of love when there are callous men who will abandon you without notice! One minute they are messaging you how excited they are to see you and then next they don’t bother to show up and ignore your calls! So long as I, The Harpy am here, no woman will ever be hurt by a man again!” The akuma exclaimed.

“She has been saying that for 20 minutes.” Ladybug stated clearly irritated.

“So you’re saying she has been Parroting her point?” Chat noir Inquired with a smirk.

Ladybug rolled her eyes but with a smile on her face. She felt in a much better mood then she was moments before. The cat did have a way of cheering her up.

“Just see if you can beak her interest for a bit and I'll try and get the jump on her.”

Chat noir smiled at her pun. 

I wonder if Marinette will share my fondness of puns. If he remembered right her dad loved puns. So she should be use to hearing them. I bet she has a few good ones. He quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head. Akuma now, daydreams later.

“I'll be sure to make sure to ruffle her feathers.” He punned one last time with a wink before heading off. 

The harpy was looking around, it seemed that most of the people were taking cover.

“You know I agree, men can be jerks. Thats why I prefer women.” the black clad hero commented, causing the akuma to turn around.

“Chat noir! The horrible half of the miraculous duo!” The Harpy hissed.

“Its actually adorable. Thats okay, most of the akuma keep getting that one confused. its a common…” Chat noir bantered only to be interrupted by an incoming barrage of feathers coming at him.

Using his cat like reflexes, the blond managed to dodge the sharp feather.

“Yikes! You can poke an eye out with those.”

Chat noir decided to jump down to avoid more feathers.

“Hold still you mangy Alley cat! You men are all the same, leaving at the first opportunity! Just like Curtis! ”

Chat noir couldn’t help but wonder what this Curtis guy did to make this akuma so mad, and if he should feel worse for Curtis or for her.

Ladybug swung her yo-yo around the akuma’s wing. The akuma turned to see Ladybug and looked betrayed.

“You are actually helping him? He is just a nasty male. He will break your heart.”

Ladybug felt a pang of guilt as she heard the akuma say that, if things go how Marinette wants, she might be the one who unfortunately breaks hearts. 

“I wouldn’t worry about Chat noir, I have an itching feeling that you should worry about  your wing.” Ladybug answered with a smirk.

“My wing? Why would I worry about my… why is it so itchy?” The akuma exclaimed in surprise.”

She looked at the yo-yo and noticed that the string and the yo-yo itself were covered in a mysterious powder.

Ladybug reveals a small ladybug print canister. The akuma realized it was Itching powder.

The Akuma tried to scratch her wing but if she tried to with her other wing, she would fall.

The Harpy shrieked and tried to get away.

“Chat noir!” Ladybug called out as the akuma was flying away and taking Ladybug for a ride.

“I am on it.”

Chat noir gave chase to the bird akuma who flew around in circles trying to get ladybug off.

But while distracted she didn’t see the cat jump from the roof she was flying a bit too close to and he snagged her necklace.

“NO!” The Harpy cried out in horror. Ladybug used that as her signal to let go.

Chat noir activated his power to break the necklace which released the Akuma.

Ladybug quickly captured and purified the black butterfly.

“Bye bye little butterfly.” 

Ladybug tosses the canister into the air and all the damage from the fight was fixed.

 The Harpy turned back into her normal form. Now no longer covered in green feathers she was wearing a simple yet fashionable summer dress and her eagle eyes were replaced with lovely green eyes. Looking like a woman in her late twenties.

Ladybug and chat noir fist bump to celebrate.

"Pound it!"

After their congratulations, the two approach the woman to check on her.

“Are you okay? You seemed really upset when you were an akuma?” Ladybug inquired.

The woman spoke with a saddened tone.

“I am sorry for all the trouble I have caused. I was just upset with Curtis standing me up. We had met through this matchmaker app, that one that shows your compatibility. We really hit it off after he messaged me and we seemed to have a lot in common. He acted so sweet and thoughtful, we were planning to meet up for the first time today but.. but he stood me up on the date…” The woman started tearing up. “I thought he was going to be different!”

Ladybug and chat noir felt her words strike a cord. It sounded a lot like the app that they were familiar with. Was it not as accurate as they were lead to believe?

“Well, I guess putting your faith in an app could be…” Ladybug began to say before getting interrupted.

“Angela!” A voice called out.

The three looked to see a man with short honey blond hair and brown eyes, holding a bouquet of flowers, clearly exhausted.

“Thank goodness you are okay. I am so sorry for being late. The subway broke down and I had no signal to call you. I messaged you as soon as I was out explaining everything. Then when I saw that Bird akuma attacking I couldn’t help but worry so I went looking for you.”

The brunette pulled out her phone reveal she had 10 texts and two missed calls.

“Oh. Oh my I am embarrassed. I am sorry for assuming the worst, Curtis. I thought you had stood me up and…”

“Stand up a spectacular women like you? Assume I am dead first.” Curtis said with a soft smile.

The two laughed at the comment, showing that there was something between them.

Ladybug and Chat noir could tell the couple were having a moment and decide to let them be.

The two make their way to a rooftop as they let the two lovebirds talk.

“Seems like things worked out for her.” Chat noir spoke, he was far more relieved.

“Yea, I am glad the guy didn’t actually stand her up. Sounds like that app she used didn’t steer her wrong.” Ladybug agreed, also feeling relief about the revelation.

“It sounds like there might be something to it.” Chat noir commented. “Purrhaps we should test our own compatibility Ladybug. Have you considered making an account?”

“Who says I do or don’t already have one?” Ladybug teased.

“Oh? So my lady is searching for her soulmate? How strange, I have been right here the whole time.” Chat noir joked.

Ladybug laughed.

“I assume you don’t, since you have ‘your soulmate’ so close.” Ladybug teased.

“Purrhaps or Purrhaps I do have one.” Chat noir purred. 

“You already used that pun earlier kitty.”

“Fur real? I guess I am not on my game today.” Chat noir admitted.

“Its fine, don’t force the puns on my account.” Ladybug assured.

Chat noir smile shifted from his usually cocky smirk to a softer smile.

“Hey Bugaboo, could we go on patrol sometime in the future, maybe in like in a week or two? Maybe see if Andre’s stand needs protecting from akuma?” 

Ladybug’s expression softened. Chat noir was setting her up with the opportunity to address something that may become relevant. If it does, then she will need to tell chat noir the truth, that she is gonna have to give him a solid no, but if not, then she has the perfect person to cheer her up.

“I would like that. How about two weeks from now. I will be free then.” Ladybug answered just before her earrings beeped.

“Sounds good, we can go over details later, unless you have decided today was the best time to reveal ourselves.”

“Keep dreaming.” She playfully flicked his bell. “Later kitty.”

Ladybug took off from the rooftop, leaving the cat smiling with a feeling of melancholy.

“Well now its time to wait and see.”

Chat noir heard his ring beep and headed off back home, thinking about how to go about the promised meet up depending on how things go.

“What do you mean you can’t delete my account!” An angry brunette shouted over the phone. She was doing her best not to pull out her hair in frustration.

“I am sorry Ms. Dupain-cheng. But as I have stated before you do not have your password and you did not use the pin we provided to your email to reset your password. Until you utilize that code to reset your password and create a new password so you can get into your account. You can not delete the account through any other method.” The tech support representative answered.

“Why can’t you send the code to my new email that I provided?” Lila asked, her agitation clearly showing.

“As I have said before, it breaches are security guidelines. Is there any reason why you wish to delete your account?”

“Its because there is a clearly something wrong with my list.” She insisted with clear frustration.

“I will scan your account for any anomalies, one moment.”

Lila stood by the phone waiting.

“We have looked over your account, there are no glitches or errors. Also, may I be the first to congratulate you on being the first to receive 100% compa…..”

Lila hung up and she grabbed a pillow to scream into.

This had to be some sort of nightmare. How could there be no way of dealing with this!”

Chris was in his room sleeping. She was relieved that Chris was a heavy sleeper. Considering Nino’s hobby, being able to sleep through loud noise was a must in that family. Though this was the only remote solace she got out of this hellish scenario.

Not only did Marinette top the list of compatible matches for Adrien, she was a 100% match with him and it was completely legitimate. It was like getting hit in the face with a metal bat.

Lila was racking her brain. There must be some way to stop this nightmare.

She tried to get Marinette’s account deleted but that wouldn’t work without having access to her email. Marinette was not going to willingly give out her password to her of all people. Marinette was one of the few people that didn’t trust her and if she tried anything, Marinette would find out.

She needed to think, she would find a way to beat that pigtailed brat. There was no way she was letting Marinette get Adrien. Not while she could help it.

Hawkmoth looked through the window. He was still sour from his recent defeat, however he did notice something to brighten his mood. There was so much potential negative emotions loaming over Paris. The possibility of break ups, jealousy, and loneliness. All coming from one singular reasoning, it was an all you could eat buffet for his akuma, but not one of them was strong enough to warrant sending out another akuma yet. He would wait, there would be another strong negative emotion source sooner or later.

“It seems there is a negative to something that lets you find your soulmate. I fortunately already found mine, I just need to get her back.” Hawkmoth spoke aloud.

He was going to wait, he knew he could let the emotions fester into something far stronger, something that Ladybug and Chat noir couldn’t handle.  Perhaps he might stir the pot to make things go faster. He would need to make a plan, but for now he had other matters to attend to. He had to attend to ‘Civillain matters’.

“An interview?” Adrien responded in surprise.

“Yes, your father has scheduled an interview for you this Friday. The network has been wanting to do an interview with you for some time and your father believes it would be a good time to do so to promote the newest fragrance.” Nathalie explained. “As always, keep yourself composed and don’t let out too much information. Avoid any rumors they might be mentioning.”

“Okay. Would it be alright if I took my friends with me?” Adrien suggested, hoping Nathalie would be willing to let him take someone.

Nathalie looked at the blond and considered the proposal. As long as Gabriel is informed and the guest doesn’t cause trouble, one may not be an issue.

“You may bring one person. I don’t think your father would approve of more then that. Just be sure they are well behaved.” Nathalie answered before leaving Adrien to his own devices.

Plagg popped out of the teen’s shirt.

“Oh an interview. Do you think you can request the green room to be stocked with Camembert?” The cat Kwami asked as he floated beside him.

“I will ask for some, but I need to decide who I am gonna take with me. I am surprised I am even allowed to take someone.”

“So you are gonna take the baker girl right?” 

Adrien felt a faint blush appear on his face.

“W-why would you think that? I could invite Nino or …”

“Adrien, don’t try to bullshit me. You suck at lying.” Plagg commented.

Adrien sighed.

“Am I really that obvious?”

“Yes.”

Adrien knew he wanted to bring Marinette. Sure bringing Nino would be a blast, but this would be a good way to see how Marinette would react to being apart of some of the things he does. Plus even if the compatibility test doesn’t work out, he would still like to get closer with Marinette. She was a wonderful person, and she deserved to get to see what it was like when she makes it as a designer, answering questions about her latest fashion line and what not. 

“I will give her a call to see if she isn’t busy.”

“Good luck Casanova.” Plagg chuckled as he reclined in the air.

Adrien felt his pulse quicken as he looked for Marinette’s contact information.

“No worries Rose, the shirts are done. Yes, I can bring them to school tomorrow. Okay, tell everyone I said hi back. Take… Oh you and Juleka are at 87% compatible? Congrats. I always knew you two were…. Mine? Oh uh look at the time bye!” Marinette ended her conversation a bit exhausted. 

Rose was a good friend, but the girl had a way of talking an ear off if Marinette wasn’t careful. Marinette would have texted her, but the girl would blow up her phone with 50+ texts. So Marinette decided a phone call was the best way of contacting her.

Marinette had felt super productive after she got back from that akuma battle. Though before she could action on that productive vibe she had to deal with some weird emails that mentioned codes for restarting her password for ‘Soulmate search’. She decided to change her password just to be safe, probably smart if someone was trying to get into it.  Marinette always figured it’s better to be on the side of caution when it came to her personal items and information. That is why she made that trap box for her diary.

Some people have no lives, trying to get into other people’s accounts. Marinette thought to herself. She could only imagine the type of desperate person who tried to get into her account for a matchmaking app. Probably some two bit hacker that wanted to spam her with emails. She logged in to make sure everything in the app was fine. Her personal information secure, and her compatibility list was unchanged. She smiled at the first place ranking. It was the spark she needed to get back into her productive mindset. Deciding that since everything was fine, she would not look into the matter further so long as it doesn’t happen again as she would rather focus on her commission but would definetly keep an eye out for it.

Now able to ride her wave of productivity, She was able to finish the new Kitty Section shirts that Rose commissioned. The second design really did look good. Now that they had enough original songs to make their first album, they needed a shirt with the cover on it, which Marinette happily designed for them as well. 

“The shirts look great.” Her red Kwami praised as she looked them over. “And you dont have to pull an all nighter like you did last time.”

“Yeah, it was easier the second time around, especially now that I organized my schedule better.” Marinette agreed. “With occasional 20 minute video game breaks, those really can do wonders.”

Marinette’s phone began buzzing again.

“Oh, thats right. I promised Rose a picture of the shirt.” Marinette remembered.

She picked up the phone.

“Don’t worry I was just about to send you the photo of the shirt.” Marinette answered.

“What shirt?” A voice that definitely didn’t sound like Rose. 

Marinette dropped her phone. Her face went red. It was Adrien. Adrien was calling her right now.

“Marinette? Are you still there?” Adrien’s voice came from the phone.

Marinette stumbled to the ground to pick up.

“Yes here Marinette is. I mean Yes. Marinette is here. Speaking.” Marinette tripped over her own words. She was caught off guard by the sudden phone call. 

Why was he calling? Was he going to say that he changed his mind about what he said earlier? Or was he calling because he doesn’t want to wait that long and start dating now? Marinette had to shake those thoughts out of her head.

“Oh good. I was wondering if you were busy Friday after school? I am going to have a tv interview and it would be really cool if you could come along. You won’t be on camera or anything if you don’t want to be. You can be right by the set.” Adrien explained.

“Really?! Yea, Yes. Free am I. I am free then.” Marinette corrected herself. She mentally told her self to relax. She was able to regain composure.

“Awesome! Oh, just so you know. Nathalie said I can only bring one person so It will just be the two of us and my bodyguard, is that alright with you?” Adrien questioned, Speaking a bit faster then normal, if Marinette wasn’t so nervous she might have noticed. “If it isn’t that is totally fine to. I am sure Nino would go if I asked.”

This boy was going to kill her. Just the two of them. Her and Adrien on Friday after school. Well sure there would be a studio with a bunch of people, but out of everyone he could have invited, he chose her. She was his first pick. Her heart felt like it was trying to burst out of her chest.

“Thats fine with me. Is there a dress code? Do I need to…”

“I was going straight to the interview from school so I will be in my school clothes so I wouldn’t worry about it if you don't want to change, besides you always look great so even if they do put you on camera for a bit, you will be fine.” Adrien assured. “So its not a big deal if you were to come Into-view”

Marinette couldn’t help but giggle at the word play, he sounded so cheesy yet endearing.

“Thanks for the heads up, I wouldn’t want to put your choice in guests into Question.” Marinette punned back. She mentally slapped herself. That was such a bad joke there is no way he found that funny. That stupid cat is rubbing off on her.

To her surprise, Adrien laughed at her joke, Marinette could swear there was no sound the rang as sweet.

I will give that cat macaroons later. Marinette mentally noted for later for his influence.

“I will explain any details I find out tomorrow. Have a good night, Marinette.” Adrien said after he finished laughing.

“You too. Good night Adrien.” Marinette practically swooned after she hung up.

The ladybug Kwami smiling.

“I believe that went well.” Tikki encouraged.

Marinette moved to her bed and fell back on it, clearly dazed and excited.

“He wants me to go with him to his interview. I was his first choice. It will be amazing…”

Tikki sighed with soft smile. Its a good thing Marinette finished those shirts and her homework earlier, it was clear no other work was gonna be done tonight. She wondered what Marinette’s reaction will be tomorrow.

Adrien hung up his phone with a giddy grin on his face akin to the one he wears as Chat noir. She does like puns, another point for the legitimacy of the app. 

“She said she was fine with it.” Adrien told his kwami as the cat consumed a piece of camembert.

“Congrats Romeo, you asked her out on a date.” Plagg commented casually.

Adrien felt his cheeks flush and his grin shifted.

“It isn’t a date.”

“Sounds like a date. Not that I care.”

“It really isn’t a date. It is just Marinette and I going to an interview I am gonna have. There will be a bunch of people there and It isn’t like it will be just the two of us.” Adrien explained.

“Aren’t most areas filled with people?” Plagg pointed out.

“Well yes but I mean…”

“And if it isn’t a date, why didn’t you just text her like a normal teen? You went out of your way to call her.” Plagg rubbed in. He had a satisfied smirk watching Adrien get close to Ladybug levels of flustered over Marinette. Plagg desperately wanted to tell the boy, but he held in the urge by chomping down on some cheese.

Adrien was about to comment but his blush only became more apparent.

“Maybe its a tiny bit like a quarter date. maybe a third of a date.”

“Math is your worst subject kid and what you're saying isn’t adding up.” Plagg countered. He decided to to twist the knife a bit more seeing Adrien get more red.

Adrien knew he wasn’t getting anywhere. 

He didn’t know why this was making him all flustered. Sure Marinette had always been a sweet friend and sure she had always been cute and kind. But now just thinking about her made him nervous. Like seeing Ladybug without his mask on. Ever since he saw that compatibility score and started thinking about her as more then a friend, it was like a gate in his head that was holding these thoughts and feelings about her had swung open and the door couldn’t be closed, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted it closed. It all sort of clicked and the more Adrien thought about it, the more he liked the idea of him and Marinette.

“Anyway, it will be nice to have her come along. I am sure everything will go great, and Marinette will have a good time.” Adrien moved past his petty discussion with the cat. 

“I am sure it will all go smoothly for you. I don’t see Anything possibly going wrong.” Plagg sarcastically retorted.

“If something goes wrong now, I am not ordering you the camembert.”

“Kwami Abuse!”

Still 100%

That thought made him feel warm as he walked into the school on that Thursday morning. He had answered the daily questions as soon as he was out of bed. He practically melded his eyes to the screen as he waited for the results. His 100% compatibility with Marinette was unchanged.

He also noticed that Kagami slid down to 80%, but she hadn’t updated her profile yet so it could change later. But he was more concerned with the top spot.

Adrien arrived to class. He made his way to his seat, where he noticed Nino listening to music. 

He sits down and nudges Nino playfully. The Dj turns to him and pauses his music.

“Hey dude, you seem in a good mood.” Nino greeted as he moved his headphones to his neck.

“Are those new?” Adrien inquired as he looked at the cooler, sleeker designed headphones that looked in a lot better shape then his previous pair. 

“Yup, they were on sale yesterday. Snagged the last one in stock.” Nino bragged. “Half off.”

“Congrats.” Adrien offered a fist bump which Nino accepted.

Adrien took a quick look around to ensure no one in the class was paying attention to him. Alya was outside waiting for Marinette, so Adrien knew he didn’t need to worry about any eavesdropping from the ladyblogger.

“So about yesterday… you didn’t tell anyone about what I sent you?” Adrien whispered.

Nino’s face showed complete confusion.

“What thing did you send me?” Nino questioned.

“You know…” Adrien leaned in closer. “The compatibility list? You sent me a text about it yesterday.”

It took the hat wearing teen a moment to gather himself.

“Wait you got the app? Who did you get?” Nino inquired.

“Nino. I sent you the list.” Adrien answered. His tone more serious and concerned then before..

“Sorry dude, But I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nino responded. The Dj pulled out his phone to show Adrien the texts. Sure enough, the exchange from yesterday was absent.

Adrien was shocked.

“Thats impossible.” Adrien spoke as he pulled out his phone and looked at his messages, it was identical to Nino’s except that the exchange from yesterday was present.

Nino looked at it.

“That is bizarre. Cause I didn’t message you yesterday. I know I didnt message you then because that was when I was leaving to go get this.” Nino gestured to his headphones. “I was setting up Chris with someone to watch him just before leaving. “ 

Nino looked closer at Adrien’s phone as if staring at some parallel world.

Adrien was definitely lost. If Nino didn’t text him, who did? Who did Nino have watch Chris? Would that person be respon–”

“Holy shit dude!” Nino exclaimed interrupting Adrien’s thoughts. “You got one h…”

Adrien immediately covered Nino’s mouth.

The whole class now looking at the two teens.

Adrien felt embarrassed. 

“He was surprised by my high score in super penguino.” Adrien lied.

The class went with it and decided that Nino’s reaction wasn’t important enough to look into. 

‘Thank Kwami for short attention spans’ Adrien thought as he waited for Nino to calm down before removing his hand.

Adrien practically yanked Nino out of the classroom to ensure no one was listening in.

“Dude!” He whispered in shock. “I can’t believe you got 100% and with Marinette.” Nino was in shock from seeing the compatibility score in the photo. “I mean I’m not surprised you two scored high, but 100%? That is so choice. I am a bit jealous, I haven’t even gotten 100% with my girlfriend.” 

Alya is probably gonna flip when she finds out. Oh man if she finds out and knew that I knew? She might kill me if she finds out from someone else. Nino thought to himself.

“Can we discuss this later? I don’t want people finding out about it yet.” Adrien pleaded.

“Why dude? Aren’t you happy that Marinette is at the top of the list?”  Nino asked with a bit of worry that Adrien might want to turn the designer down.

“I am happy, more then I thought I would be with anyone. But I don’t want people finding out yet.” Adrien replied.

“If you are chill with it then what’s the big…”

“If word gets around that someone has 100% compatibility with me, things could get… complicated. Especially for Marinette.” Adrien interrupted. “You have seen how my fans can get. I don’t want to throw Marinette into that if I can avoid it. Not until I know she is fine with this, with me, with everything.”

Nino could see the genuine worry on his friend’s face. He could tell Adrien cared about Marinette. He always knew he did, but now it seemed even clearer then before.

“Okay dude, I won’t tell a soul. Except I might need to tell Alya, She will want to know.” Nino responded.

“Yes, you can tell Alya only. As long as she swears not to tell anyone.” 

“I will swear her to secrecy.” Nino assured.

“Thanks Nino. But that brings up the question, if you didn’t text me, then who did?”

“I couldn’t tell you. Maybe someone hacked your phone. The only person that had access to my phone yesterday was me and…” Nino’s expression shifted as he made a realization. 

But that couldn’t be right, why would she have an interest in the list? She told me earlier that she wasn’t into Adrien. But then again, there was that picture that was sent to everyone from Adrien’s phone of her kissing his cheek. But she assured me that it was platonic. Something isn’t adding up. She was the only other person that had access to my phone. So who else could it be?

“Who had access to your phone?” Adrien inquired, snapping his friend out of his thoughts.

“I think I might know who sent those texts. But I don’t know why she did it?”

“She? Nino who was it?” Adrien questioned.

“So you know how I needed someone to watch Chris?”

“Yeah?”

“And Normally I would have asked Marinette but she was busy with her commissions and Alya was watching her big sis’ match so…”

A car pulled up by the park where a certain brunette was sitting and had been waiting. The car window rolls down to reveal a bespectacled man with styled hair and a stern look. The fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste was sitting in the car.

“You better have a good excuse for calling for this meeting Miss Rossi. You are aware of how busy I am.”  The man sternly commented.

“I swear it is important Mr. Agreste. Adrien’s reputation and his safety are at stake.” Lila responded.

“How so?”

“Adrien’s delinquent classmates have gotten him mixed up in a scandalous app that has him put information about himself and meeting up with strangers.” Lila spun her web of lies.

Gabriel took her words with a grain of salt, but decided to humor her as this would likely be useful once she was finished trying to make herself look good.

“Are you certain of this?”

“I am. Adrien showed me a picture of the app. I tried to tell him that nothing good would come of taking part in such a nasty thing, but he wouldn’t listen. His classmates have sold him on taking part of it.” Lila lied. “You need to have him delete that horrible app, nothing good will come of it, it will just have more people trying to take advantage of Adrien for his money, status and looks.”

“She seems to be Projecting on to others master.” Nooru whispered only loud enough for Gabriel to hear. Gabriel nodded, he was losing his patience with the liar. Clearly she had been wasting his time. He motioned for the purple kwami to stay hidden before responding to Lila.

“I see, so tell me. What is the name of this app?” Gabriel questioned.

Lila froze for a second. She had thought she would not have needed to tell Mr.Agreste.

“…Soulmate Searcher…” Lila confessed.

Gabriel’s disappointment shifted into intrigue. He remembered that app. It was the cause of despair for the recent Akuma he had made, as well as other cases of despair that he was planing to use later. So his own son was using that app.

“Very well, I will look into the matter. Thank you for the information Miss Rossi.” Gabriel dismissed. Leaving an uncertain brunette on the park bench.

“Nathalie, look into this app and tell me everything you can find out about this ‘Soulmate Searcher.’ Perhaps Lila has given us another useful nugget of information to use.” Gabriel stated.

“I will be sure to do so.” His glasses wearing assistant nodded as she drove the car back to the mansion. “Do you really believe Lila was being honest about the app?”

“I doubt most of what she stated held merit. My son is not such a fool as to take part in deviant behavior. Even if Adrien was taking part in the app it is likely not as she described it. But that app was the cause of my recent akuma, it definetly has some sway over Paris. It will be something that can be of use. Gabriel answered calmly.

This information was definitely of great use. I can feel that this might be the start to getting the edge over those two heroes that have eluded me. Soon their miraculous will be mine and I will have my Soulmate back. Gabriel thought to himself as his face revealed a Hawkmoth-Esqu smile.

Chapter Text

Alya was waiting patiently for her best friend at the front of the school.

Marinette had texted her this morning about what happened yesterday and Alya wants… no NEEDS details.

“Of course, she is late.” Alya sighed. The ladyblogger knew how her friend can be sometimes. She loved that girl to pieces but it was torture for Alya’s curious nature.

But as if on cue, Marinette came running full speed. She stopped short of the steps, just barely avoiding crashing into them.

Alya made her way to her friend. A knowing smile on her face.

“Overslept?”

“I actually got up early today.” Marinette responded. “I wanted to answer those questions as soon as possible.”

“And?”

“Still triple digits.” Marinette smiled. “I got so happy that I started daydreaming… which then turned into actual dreaming.”

Alya laughed, typical Marinette. 

“Speaking of dreams, sounds like you are living one of yours. Which I would really like to hear details of now that you are out of your head.”

Marinette regaled Alya about yesterday as they started walking into the school. Marinette explained how Adrien asked her about her thoughts on the app, how they both believed there was something more to it, and how if the profile doesn’t change in 2 weeks that they should try it out. 

Alya nudging her best friend as Marinette turned bright red.

“And then he asks you out that night. Are you sure that you are both waiting until the profile finishes?” Alya teased. “Because I think the model found his soulmate.”

“It isn’t a date! He just asked if I wanted to go to the interview with him. If I didn’t go, he would have asked Nino.” Marinette explained while her face failing to hide how flustered she was by the teasing. “Though I was happy that I was his first choice. Just us going to the interview right after school, that’s it.”

“Sounds like he is falling for you. But he is wrong if he thinks you are going there in your normal outfit.” Alya answered.

Marinette looked at her in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“You are going tomorrow looking your best. We are going to make that boy smack his head on the floor falling head over heels for you.” Alya elaborated, a confident smirk on her face.

Marinette stopped.

“W-W-Wait! That might be too much. He never said it was a date! If I show up looking out of the ordinary, it might make him think I am going into this too quickly.” Marinette stammered.

“Trust me girl. If he finds it weird, just say that you didn’t want to look bad in case they did put you on camera. Adrien understands how important appearances are.” Alya responded. “It’s a fair reason.”

Marinette had to admit it was a sneaky yet clever reason.

“Wait you said we? You didn’t tell the girls about the…”

“They don’t know about the compatibility score, but they know about your ‘Not Date’ “Alya said with finger quotes around the words ‘Not Date’. “They are on board and we will make you look amazing.”

Marinette smiled at her friend.

“You are a really the bestest friend ever. Thanks, Alya.” Marinette praised.

“Hey, I am just looking out for my girl. Now let’s hurry to class before…”

The late bell rang loudly alerting the two that they were late.

Adrien was worried. Nino had told him it wasn’t that big of a deal. But Nino didn’t understand how Lila actually was. The model remembered how she used every little bit of information to get into the Agreste Mansion, how easily she twisted the truth, how she got Nathalie and his bodyguard in trouble. Then there was the way she took that photo. Nino didn’t know what Chat noir knew about Lila.

If it was not for the late bell he would have explained situation to the DJ, he had a feeling if he does explain Nino might believe him. He was both relieved and annoyed that Lila was not in school that day. Adrien didn’t bother paying attention to what the reason was, he knew it was likely a lie while most of the class felt bad and was wishing she felt better. He will have to ‘Talk’ with Lila later, at least this absence will give him time to approach her composed and calm. 

Thankfully something sweet and kind did help bring him back to earth. Marinette walking through the door. She and Alya apologized to Ms. Bustier about their tardiness before taking seats. He found himself smiling at her when she looked his way. He noticed her smile back, it alleviated the stress from him. Until he the shattering realization of Lila having that list could entail.

Marinette was on the top of that list, that compatibility list could become a hit list if Lila shows the right people. That made Lila’s absence all the more mortifying. He needed to warn her.

Adrien made a mental task list of who he needed to talk to. 1st was Marinette, she needed to be told about Lila seeing and possibly having the list. He wasn’t sure how she would react to it, but better than having her find out later. 2nd. Nino, and possibly Alya to make sure they know what Lila is capable of, a mistake he needs to rectify. Lastly, there is Lila. She needs to delete that list, and then Adrien would have a talk to her about Lying. He already gave her a warning, and if she plans on using that list to harm Marinette… there would be trouble.

Class finished fast as Adrien was lost in thought. He noticed his best friend had moved to talk with his girlfriend. Leaving a surprised and nervous Marinette and Adrien in their seats. The class had cleared out leaving the two by themselves.

Adrien began to get up from his seat, gathering his things, as Marinette touched him on his shoulder.

“Hey Marinette. How is it going?” Adrien greeted.

“Are you okay?” Marinette questioned.

Adrien looked at her with surprise.

Marinette realized she had kept her hair on his shoulder still. She quickly removed it looking flustered.

“What do you mean? I am fine.” Adrien replied with a rehearsed smile.

“You seemed really out of it this morning, you looked kind of upset. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” Marinette answered. Her concern was overshadowing her nervousness.

Adrien’s rehearsed smile faded. Marinette was worried about him, she could tell he was upset and she was checking up on him. She always had a knack for noticing when people were hurting. I wouldn’t expect less of my everyday ladybug

Adrien blinked as that thought crossed his mind. He was getting ahead of himself, he needed to focus on what he was going to say to Marinette.

“Thank you, Marinette. I just found out some rather disturbing news.” Adrien answered.

Marinette’s heart sank. Adrien was clearly worried and it hurt her to see him like this.

“Lila saw my list.” Adrien stated. “She saw my compatibility list.”

Marinette blinked unsure of how to take it. Lila was sneaky and devious, so any information that she has or holds over someone is dangerous. But part of her couldn’t help but find funny, Lila knows that She and Adrien are 100% compatible, Marinette wondered if that made Lila mad. It was kind of amusing, but also the realistic issues started coming to light which put that thought to bed.

“How did she find out?” Marinette questioned.

“She used Nino’s phone, texting me pretending to be him. Then she tried to cover her tracks. I would hate to think what would happen if I didn’t ask Nino about it this morning.” Adrien explained.

“That manipulative witch!” Marinette explained. “How could she use Nino like that? It was bad enough the invasion of privacy, but getting Nino involves is even worse.”

Marinette realized she had just insulted Lila right in front of Adrien. Adrien wasn’t one for badmouthing people, she would need to apologize.

“Sorry, I got carried away…”

“No, you don’t need to apologize.” Adrien assured. 

“Lying about herself to look good is one thing, those lies will catch up to her sooner or later.” Adrien continued. “But manipulating my friends and using them just to find out… it is gross.”

Marinette watched in surprise as she saw Adrien get visibly mad.

“After that time, she lied to get into my house, she got Nathalie and my bodyguard in trouble, and her actions resulted in Kagami getting akumatized. I warned Lila that I would only be a friend to her so long as she didn’t try hurting the people I loved, but she just proved that she wasn’t willing to listen.” Adrien spoke with frustration. Marinette could see how hurt he felt.

Adrien took a calming breath before he continued speaking. “I know I said that we shouldn’t confront her because it won’t change her and only make it so she would be akumatized, but I was wrong. I need to be firm with Lila, and I am sorry I have been enabling her for this long.”

Marinette felt her own emotional distress about Lila lighten as she heard his words. She had been quiet about Lila because he requested it. Aside from what happened with Kagami, Lila wasn’t really doing any harm that she was aware of, but she did think that Adrien was being naive in not confronting her.

“It’s okay Adrien. It just that it was not the right way to go about it. You try and see the good in everyone and you wanted to give Lila a chance.  Your heart was in the right place and It is one of the reasons I lo-LIKE! One of the reasons I like talking with you.” Marinette stumbled before recovering. She almost confessed that she was in love with him.

Adrien smiled at her sweetly.

“I appreciate that Marinette. Thank you.” 

“As for the list, I don’t think she can really do anything with it, unless she was on the list in some way… Was she?” Marinette asked nervously, using her concern to snap her out of the blushing state she was in.

“I didn’t see her on the list. And honestly, I hope she never is on it. I also don’t know what she will do with it, but I do think she will use it to hurt someone.” Adrien answered. “And I don’t want that someone to be you.”

Marinette felt like this boy might just keep her in a state of blushing as he said that. His last sentence smacking her heart.

“Okay. But what should we do?” Marinette inquired.

“Well first I want to make sure Nino and Alya know what is going on with Lila. They have been trusting her and that’s what caused this situation. That is something I wanted to talk with Nino about.” Adrien answered. “Then, I am going to confront Lila about all of this. She needs to know I won’t be enabling her any longer. She needs to come clean about everything.”

Marinette looked at Adrien with warmth in her eyes. His green eyes showing a fierce sense of justice and loyalty that made her heartbeat quicken. He was going to confront Lila, he had her back. 

His eyes are just like chat noir’s 

Marinette felt that thought sneak up on her out of nowhere, her mind flashing to chat noir for a moment and a blush creeping on her face.

Why am I thinking of that cat now of all times?

“Nino if this is about playing super penguino during Lunch I can’t, Marinette has a date with Adrien and I got to help her.” Alya mentioned.

“No this isn’t about that.” Nino responded “It’s about… wait Marinette has a date with Adrien? When did that happen?”

“Last night. He asked Marinette to go with him to a Tv interview.” Alya answered.

“Oh wow, good for him. I guess seeing that compatibility test gave him that kick of confidence he needed. I gotta congratulate him later.” Nino spoke as he smiled.

“Yea, which is why I have to make sure to work with Mari to ensure many more dates after. Oh, so you saw Adrien’s List? Who is number two? Is it close to Marinette? I doubt it but it will be good to know for later.” 

Nino remembered why he wanted to talk with Alya out here.

“Crap, I almost forgot. Look, Adrien’s list got peeked on by someone that shouldn’t have seen it.” Nino explains, now his face more serious than before.

Alya’s mood shifted to a mix of curious and angry.

“What? That’s such an invasion of privacy. How did it happen? Who is the culprit?” Alya interrogated, her ‘Investigator mode’ had been flipped on.

“It was Lila.” Nino answered.

Alya’s expression softened.

“Oh, then things shouldn’t be so bad. At least it wasn’t someone like Chloé.  Lila was asking me yesterday if I knew who was on Marinette’s list, she wanted to help set her up with someone on the list. Lila probably was going to try and do the same for Adrien.” 

Nino rubbed his neck nervously.

“About that… If it was like a peek over his shoulder or something I wouldn’t call it a big deal. But the way she found out was kind of twisted.” Nino confessed.

The ladybloger tilted her head inquisitively.

“What did she do to find out?”

Nino explained how he had her watching Chris while he went out to buy his new headphones. 

“Which look very nice by the way. It’s a sweet upgrade.” Alya complimented.

“Glad you like them. I almost went for the previous model but these ones… Anyway, point being she asked to use my phone while hers was charging.”

“Makes sense, I have used your phone to message my mom before.” Alya responded, not understanding what the DJ is throwing down.

“While I wasn’t looking, Lila pretended to be me and tricked Adrien into sending a photo of the list to my phone. Then she deleted the conversation.”

Alya blinked.

“Wait she did what now?”

“She deceived Adrien to get his list, she used my friendship with Adrien to get that list. Lila maybe doing this so she could set Adrien up with someone on the list, but the way she got that information is giving me some real bad vibes. I wouldn’t have even known if Adrien didn’t show me proof of the text exchange.” Nino summarized.

Alya processed what Nino had told her. She started thinking about everything Marinette had been saying about the Lila, the that photo of her kissing Adrien’s cheek. It felt like there was a connection.

“You don’t think…”

“Adrien wasn’t exactly thrilled when I told him Lila knew. He was actually uncharacteristically mad about it. It was weird.” Nino answered.

Alya crossed her arms, there was a lot of evidence pointing at Lila, but she needed to confirm this for sure. The expression is ‘innocent until proven guilty’. This could all be one massive misunderstanding with Lila just having different concepts of privacy and personal space that just need a quick correction. The blogger has been burned enough times to know not to jump the gun as quickly as she had in the past, like the incident when she thought Chloé was Ladybug. A good reporter confirms her sources, she needed to confirm this about Lila. If the evidence was right, then Alya owed Marinette several apologies for doubting her, and she owed Lila a tongue lashing.

“Yea Mom I will be sure to drink plenty of fluids. Yes, I have the doctor’s number in case something should happen. Okay. Love you too.” Lila concluded her call with her mother.

She had decided to stay home after her exchange with Mr. Agreste. Her mother was out on business so acting sick was an easy way to get out of class. She was panicking. She had thought she was playing this right, but this only made things worse.

All because she was rattled by that stupid list. 100%, 100 fucking percent!! She needed to calm down. She was making rash actions. She just needed to calm down.

She told Mr. Agreste about the list, but he did not seem as bothered by it as she wanted him to be, he looked more interested then furious. She was so uncertain of if the fashion mogul would even do anything with that information.

Marinette was never a threat to her before. Marinette had tried calling her out before and Lila was able to easily sidestep her attempts. Lila made sure the brat knew her place, but she would occasionally find Marinette snooping on her, not that it ever matters. But now with this, Marinette had the advantage and Lila could not accept that

She needed to be more cunning, find a way to cast doubt in Marinette and Adrien’s minds about this app. She should turn the whole school against the app. She should force Marinette to fill out her quiz and make it so she is on the list.

Lila paused. That last one was a good idea. She would have Marinette fill out her quiz. If Marinette did it, then She was on equal playing ground with her and then she could easily mop the floor with her. If Marinette refused, she had the perfect means of blackmail, she had Adrien’s List. One word and she can spread it across the internet. She could have Adrien’s fans knocking at Marinette’s doorstep and tearing her apart. Everything seemed so much clearer now.

Lila smiled sinisterly as she thought of that. Yes, this is what she was going to do. Tomorrow is a new day and she was going to be back on track.

“I have finished investigating the app as you requested.” The dark-haired assistant spoke as she addressed her boss.

“Good. Don’t spare any of the details.” Gabriel stated as he looked up from his tablet.

“According to the articles I have found, the app known as ‘Soulmate Searcher’ uses a theorem developed by a team of Psychology graduates from several renown universities that had been studying emotional chemistry and relationships to shape its compatibility algorithm. The team is led by Professor Galevant Nomadoff, who wrote his thesis on the proposed theorem that…”

“Focus on the information about the app itself, no one cares about the people who made it.” Gabriel stated, agitated by the unnecessary information. 

Nathalie nodded and swiped past a few pages on her tablet before continuing.

“The app was created around two years ago and grew in popularity making it the number one matchmaking App in America. It really took off within the last 6 months after it was used in a reality show known as ‘Wed at first glance’” Nathalie began to explain. “The app became a major success once the show demonstrated how accurate the app was with its compatibility matches and just recently made a deal to create servers on an international level. Speculation on how much the app is worth put it in…”

“People take this app as some grand decider of who they should be with? Sounds like a bunch of nonsense.” Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“Hundreds of studies on the app find that people who use it are 10x more likely to remain in a relationship after 6 months with individuals they were deemed compatible with, and adults from ages 21 to 35 have their chances of being engaged increase by 50%. I was able to find several reports even showing successful marriages, but that only includes the first year so the jury is out regarding the long-term effect of the app.” Nathalie answered.

Gabriel considered the information, it seems that users that accept the results seem to end up happier than before, however this did leave a disconnect with people that hated the app. Miss Rossi showed to be a prime example of one of those individuals.

“Miss Rossi mentioned that Adrien had one of these accounts. Can you confirm if her statement is true?”

“I have come across several dozen cases of teenage girls and boys claiming to have high compatibility with Adrien. However similar claims regarding Jagged stone and Clara Nightingale have also been on the rise. The amount of truth to any of these claims is negligible and with high probability fabricated.” Nathalie answered. “I did check the online monitoring software that we have installed in Adrien’s phone, unfortunately that only covers his browser history on his computer and not phone applications.”

Gabriel considered the information. He had an idea.

“Contact the news station that is having the interview with Adrien, let them know that if they are willing to pay double the booking fee they will be allowed to ask more personal questions, excluding questions regarding family life.” Gabriel instructed.

“Considered it done.” Nathalie began to head out before stopping.

“Adrien requested to bring someone with him during his interview.”

Gabriel did not react.

“Who did he request?” Gabriel questioned his tone giving no indication of whether he was for or against the idea.

“He told me this morning he wanted to bring Ms. Dupain-Cheng. The designer of that hat that Audrey was a fan of.” Nathalie explained.

Gabriel smiled slightly.

“That is not an issue, she may attend.” Gabriel replied before going back into his work.

“I will inform him of your generosity. Thank you”

“Tomorrow is the big day!” an excited red head exclaimed to her friend. “Adrien is going to be on TV! And this time it is an interview special.”

The girl was around Adrien’s age, she had freckles and was wearing an ‘Adrien is life’ T-shirt with the blond model’s face on it. She was wearing over it a Gabriel brand button up shirt reminiscent of one Adrien usually wore. Next to her was a girl bit shorter than her but with long black hair that was tied in a braid. She wore a plain black tee, with a small button that had a shield on it with the word ‘Adri-knight’ on it.

“Easy there Vi…” The black-haired girl caught a glare from the red head before correcting herself. “Adrienne. It is just an interview. He has done interviews before.”

“JUST an Interview?! It is 22 minutes of pure Adrien goodness without him having to share air time with those lesser individuals!” Adrienne snapped. “As the President of the number one Adrien Fan club, the Adri-knights, it is my duty that this moment be viewed in the best viewing party I can provide. Just you wait, it will be spectacular. Now if you excuse me Maggie, I have a party to prep.”

Adrienne triumphantly marched away from her friend as she went off to do something in regards to the viewing party.

“I sure miss when Wayhem was co-president.” Maggie commented. “Vivienne has clearly gone Adri-crazy.”

“Don’t you think that this might be a bit much?” The designer inquired nervously.

“Trust me girl, if we want to be ready tomorrow, we need to decide what you are going with tonight.” Alya answered. “Then tomorrow, we will fix you up just like we did here. It will be a nice surprise just when he isn’t expecting it.”

Alya also needed to make sure she could focus on her ‘other’ plan tomorrow. She was going to confront Lila about her little stunt. Alya didn’t want to bring Marinette into this little event, because she didn’t want her to worry or be preoccupied thinking about Lila when she should be enjoying herself. The other reason being in case this somehow was all blown out of proportion, ‘innocent until proven guilty’. Alya swore that after it was over she would tell Marinette all about it. But for now, Alya wanted Marinette to have fun.

Alya, smiled as Marinette was put into her own desk chair by Myléne, Juleka and Rose before they began working on her ‘Look’ for tomorrow.

“We want to make sure you look great for tomorrow.” The dreadlocked styled blonde teen exclaimed as she was working on Marinette’s hair.

“It also counts as a thank you for those shirts you worked on.” The purple tipped hair teen answered as she was working on Marinette’s make up.

“You are going to get your dream guy and we want to make sure you do.” The sweet blue-eyed blonde assured.

“Myléne, Juleka, Rose, Thank you.” Marinette was touched by her friends’ desire to help her.

She felt lucky to have a group of friends like them on her side.

“But wait, where is Alix?” Marinette inquired.

“She is picking up something for me that I know will help.” The ladyblogger assured. “But more importantly, what were you planning on wearing?”

“Adrien did say I didn’t need to overthink it…”

“Come on girl! You are a fashion designer, and a damn good one. Surely you have something that will dazzle that blond.” Alya chided. 

“Well, I have been busy with commissions to work on stuff for me. Though there was one thing in the closet I used myself as a model for.” Marinette responded a bit nervously. 

Alya moved to the closet. Pushing back some of the girl’s other clothes to see what she was referring to. A massive grin across her face.

“Don’t you dare.” Marinette stated with a glance that looked like she would murder Alya and her face puffed up from embarrassment.

“This will work. You could say its Purrfect.” Alya replied with a sneaky smile. “That poor boy will go Cat-a-tonic.”

“And you are sure about confronting her? You don’t have to do it if you both don’t want to.” Adrien spoke as he was laying on his bed.

“It’s fine dude, Alya and I talked about it. We are gonna talk with Lila tomorrow. My girlfriend told me she will investigate Lila thoroughly when she sees her, but at the moment… well right now she is with Marinette for…. anyway, point is Alya and I are going to ask Lila about everything. You can follow up with us after.” Nino explained. “This isn’t exactly something we can ignore, it’s got some bad vibes to it.”

“Alright, just be careful. Lila is very good at convincing people of things.” Adrien informed.

“Whether she is a liar or not we will find out tomorrow. Have a good night dude, and good luck on your date.” Nino concluded with a teasing tone that could be heard through his voice.

“Date!?” Adrien tried to respond but the call was ended.

“Why would he think bringing Marinette to the interview was a date?” Adrien asked aloud.

“Considering how you knew what he was referring to, I am pretty sure it’s a date.” Plagg commented.

Adrien wanted to deny what Plagg said, but he had given up trying to tell himself it wasn’t a date. But he would not refer to it as such, Marinette probably wouldn’t want to take it as a date. If she did, this was a pretty egotistical first date on his part. Taking a girl to watch a half an hour interview about himself.

“Marinette probably doesn’t see it that way.”

Plagg shrugged.

“I can’t really say on her part. But I can say you Wish it was. Amazing what happens when you just admit you were crushing on the bakery girl that has been going on for a while.”

Adrien ignores the cat and walks into his bathroom. 

He felt himself get nervous for tomorrow. He knows he shouldn’t be nervous, he has had interviews done before. He’s had Marinette show up to events he was participating in, this shouldn’t be a big deal. He dragged her around in her pajamas halfway across Paris just so he could watch a movie that his mom was in for Kwami’s sake. The fact that she doesn’t hate him for that shows how sweet of a person she is.

He splashed his face to help him snap out of his funk.

Tomorrow will be fine. Marinette will have a good time. I get to do the interview, have a few laughs, and then finished. Marinette gets to see what its like, maybe even gets to meet some more celebrities and network. That would be good for her.

Adrien walked out of the bathroom now calmer.

Nathalie informed him that his father approved of his choice of guest and that he should dress up a bit nicer than normal, fashionable yet comfortable. He decides to put on outfit he wore for the previous cologne ad that his father had him model for. As for the comfort, that scarf his father got for his birthday would be perfect, plus a good conversation piece if he needed to talk about some good points about his father. He goes to the drawer he carefully had it tucked away in. He wrapped it around his neck and felt warmth. The fabric was soft and it seemed to exude comfort. His hand tracing the inside of the scarf. Something felt familiar…

“The stitch work on this… I have felt it before.” Adrien spoke aloud.

Plagg had been laying on his pillow napping when the model’s words roused him from his nap.

“Oh? now you want to talk? Just when I was almost asleep.” Plagg grouchily responded.

Adrien went over to his winter clothes and began sorting through a drawer until he pulled out the Santa hat he had got for Christmas. The nice old Santa had given his hat back to him after the Christmas dinner, he had found out at the party that someone had given it to Adrien as a Christmas gift and said he should keep it.

Adrien moved his fingers across the stitching. He noticed the embroidery in the hat, that also exuded a similar warmth to the scarf. But the scarf didn’t have the same embroidery, but the stitch work was identical.

“It couldn’t be… could it? There is no embroidery on the scarf but the stitching, the fabric, the feeling… Its Marinette’s”

‘Every design a designer makes is a fingerprint. There is something that makes the design uniquely theirs, something that no one could truly replicate.’ Those were the words his father once said to him describing how he knew Marinette’s hat was the original even before she showed the embroidery. And the mark, the feeling was as clear as day. This hat and this scarf were made by the same person.

“Marinette made this scarf.” Adrien realized.

Plagg looked at the blond in disbelief.

He can figure this out but can’t figure out that Marinette wrote the letter?! Fu… I am sorry about the fucking dinosaurs! But I don’t deserve to deal with this.

Chapter Text

Lila began her walk to school with a confident stride. She was back. She had a plan, she had her objectives set, and she was going to get what she wanted.

The brunette realized her confident walk and quickly changed pace, making sure it looked less sure of herself, appearing much more sullener then before. She had a role to play today and she was going to play the role to perfection.

As the brunette approached the school, she noticed Nino and Alya standing by the entrance. The glasses wearing couple showed expressions that did not appear friendly. Lila was expecting that they would know about what she did. She was hoping that she would be able to divide and conquer. It is easier lying to one person at a time.

Fuck! I was hoping to catch them on their own. Okay, so plan A is out, switching to plan B. ‘The new leaf’ protocol’

“Nino, I really need to talk to you.” Lila called out as she headed towards them.

Alya quickly got in between the two.

“Interesting, we need to talk to you too.” Alya’s tone barely held back her bubbling emotions.

Lila’s face showed a look of guilt and sorrow.

“…I am guess you found out what happened.” Lila spoke softly.

“So, you admit to using Nino’s phone to find out Adrien’s compatibility list?” Alya interrogated. “That’s pretty twisted! I can’t believe you would do something like that! Lila, we….”

Lila looked down and cover her face for a second before looking up at the couple now with tears in her eyes, catching the two teens off guard and stopping Alya’s tongue lashing.

“I am sorry!” Lila cried. “I ju- I Just wanted to know! You- You said Marinette had an account. And I and I thought she would be on Adrien’s list. So, I-I-I wanted to check and see.” 

Lila’s tears caused Nino and Alya’s view of the situation to shift.

“I-I-I wanted to pair them up so they could be happy! But I needed to be sure they were on each other’s lists. I acted foolishly, I should have asked directly, but I didn’t want anyone thinking I was in love with Adrien after the incident with the photo and I had your phone in my hand and…” Lila blubbered.

She covered her face when she uncovered her face again more tears appeared. 

“I am so sorry! I realized as soon as I did it how wrong it was. I stupidly deleted the conversation just to pretend like the whole thing never happened. I felt so sick and stressed from the guilt I got such a nasty stomach ache yesterday. I knew that regardless of how you feel about me I needed to apologize.”

 “I am super-duper mega sorry about causing you all of this trouble. I swear I will never ever betray your trust like that again.” Lila bowed practically prostrating herself. “If you can’t forgive me… I understand.”

Nino and Alya felt their own anger melt as they saw how distraught Lila was. Clearly there was a mistake on her part but she had been beating herself up over it far more than they could ever do.

“You don’t need to beat yourself up over it Lady dude.” Nino answered as he put his hand on her shoulder. “We all get carried away and your heart was in the right place. You should apologize to Adrien too, he was the one whose privacy you breached. But if you just tell him the truth about the situation, I am sure he will understand. Adrien is a softie.”

“I will I promise. I owe him a massive apology and I am not leaving today until I apologize to him.” Lila said with an assuring smile through her tears.

Alya hugged the girl.

“I know what it’s like to act without thinking. I am sorry I started jumping to conclusions. I should have known you were trying to make up for it, you asked me about it the other day.” Alya assured. “So please don’t beat yourself up over it. I am sorry for yelling at you.”

Lila hugged Alya tightly.

“You two are amazing friends. I am so lucky to have such kind and understanding people at this school.” Lila praised as she wiped her ‘tears’.

The two girls stop hugging as Alya takes a look at her phone.

“Well I am glad we got that sorted out. Now I need to meet Marinette.”

“Okay, also could you tell Marinette to meet me later today. I want to talk with her.” Lila asked. The brunette wanted to know why Alya was so keen on meeting Marinette, but decided to ask later.

“Oh no prob, you can talk with her during Lunch.” Alya assured as she walked off. “Good luck with your apology to Adrien.”

Lila turned to Nino.

“Would you happen to know where Adrien is? I want to talk with him as soon as possible.”

“He should be in the locker room, he had early morning fencing practice. so, he should be by his gym locker.” Nino answered.

“I will head there and wait for him outside. Thanks Nino, for being such a wonderful person.”

Lila gave the DJ a hug.

“No probs Lila. Thanks for being honest with us.”

Lila smiled putting the small bottle of eye drops back into her sleeve.

“Anytime.”

Adrien had put his gym clothes away. He finished showering in the locker room and was dressed in the mostly white attire that he had worn in the cologne ad, the only new addition being the light blue scarf around his neck. He touched the scarf for a brief moment and felt a faint smile across his face.

Still 100% Marinette, just like this scarf is one hundred percent her.

“You are taking the fact that the best gift that your father ever gave you wasn’t actually from him pretty well.”

“It was a bit sad that this wasn’t actually a gift from father.” Adrien replied. “But I am happy that it was a gift from Marinette.”

“I didn’t expect that frigid assistant of your dad to cave to the questions so easily. You really didn’t need to promise that you wouldn’t tell your pops that you know.” Plagg answered.

“Well, at least he did try to make sure I had a gift, I can’t be mad at him for that.”

“True, you have a mountain of other reasons to be mad at him.” Plagg commented. 

Adrien shrugged as he began to walk through the door. Only to find a brunette exchange student waiting outside the door.

“Hi Adrien… I really need to talk with you.” Lila said timidly.

Adrien mentally eye rolled but maintained an emotionless look at the girl. 

I wonder if Nino and Alya got a chance to talk to her. Nino mentioned that he would try to. Lila can be sneaky so she might have avoided them just to talk with me.

“I talked with Nino and Alya earlier.” Lila answered. “I told them everything.”

Adrien looked at her surprised.

“You did? You told them about…”

“I told them about my actions. They know about the texting thing.” Lila answered. 

There was a brief pause. Adrien did not know what to make of it. Lila seemed different than usual, it was unsettling.

“I apologized to them, just like I am about to apologize to you now.” Lila stated. “Adrien… I am so sorry about everything I have done up until now, not just about tricking you.”

The model was shocked to hear her say it.

“You were right, I needed to be honest with people. Alya and Nino were so kind and accepting of me coming clean. This school is filled with such good people, I think I don’t have to try and pretend to be someone I am not.” Lila explained. 

“Oh? Well I am glad you are changing your approach.” Adrien responded, still not entirely sure that this isn’t another lie.

“I can tell you are iffy on me, and I totally understand. But I will show you.” Lila answered.

She went into her phone and showed Adrien a photo of his compatibility list. The one he messaged Nino.

“Wait, you got the photo?!” Adrien exclaimed in shock.

Lila showed Adrien as she deleted the photo.

“Not anymore.” Lila answered. “I know it doesn’t make up for everything I have lied about, but I hope that it is a start.”

Adrien thought hard about what she was saying. Part of him really wanted to believe she is telling the truth.

“I support your new way of going about things. I will be rooting for you, so long as you are being honest.” Adrien responded.

Lila nodded.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me right away, but it means a lot to hear you say that. Thank you.” Lila bowed slightly.

“You are welcome. I wish you luck on this new path.” Adrien smiled.

“I’ll see you in class.” Lila returned his smile just before turning to walk away. revealing a far more sinister smirk. 

Three handled and one more to go

Adrien watched Lila walk off, reflecting on her words.

Lila is turning over a new leaf. I can’t believe it. This day really seems to be going well. This was exactly what I wanted to hear… why does this feel wrong though.

Regardless of his thoughts, he will be sure to talk with Marinette about it later if he gets a chance before or after the interview.

“You don’t believe that pile of crap she just spouted out of her front butt, right?” The black cat kwami questioned interrupting his internal monologue.

“She said she was turning over a new leaf, so I am going to at least give her a chance to prove it. There is a possibility she did really change Plagg. There is some good in everyone Plagg.” Adrien answered. 

“Adrien, I don’t understand how you can not hate someone who lies and is trying to use you for her own benefit.”

“Plagg, if I hated people just because they lied to me and used me for their own benefit, by that logic I would have to hate my father.” Adrien replied with a casual demeanor. 

Plagg pauses as he was processing that statement. That explained way too much about Adrien’s thought process. There was a lot to unpack there.

Plagg hugged his chosen neck.

“I promise to share my camembert as long as you never say something that terrible again.”

“I will talk to Marinette about it later. See what she thinks about Lila’s new attitude.” Adrien concluded as he began to walk back to class.

Plagg was right. Lila was a liar and she was very manipulative. But right now, Adrien didn’t have much reason to doubt that Lila was trying to turn over a new leaf after she owned up to all the lies and deceit she did to him. She had apologized for lying to Adrien, but did that include the lies she told Chat noir? Chat noir knows about how she blatantly lied to try and get Ladybug hurt, Chat noir is completely aware of how nasty and dangerous of a liar Lila can be, akumatized or not. She maybe be able to trick Adrien, but she wasn’t going to fool chat noir, not again. Lila’s new attitude better be genuine, because she should know crossing a black cat can be very unlucky.

“Everything ready?” Alya inquired as she walked with Marinette. Marinette held the outfit in a protective clothing cover. It’s a surprise and she wanted to be sure it stayed perfect until she needed it.

“Yup, I finished the stitching on it last night and its ready to go.” Marinette assured. “But I don’t know if I am ready for it.”

Alya placed her hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

“Trust me girl. With that outfit, you will be…”

“If you love me you won’t say another cat pun.” Marinette interrupted.

“Party pooper.” Alya puffed her cheeks pretending to be hurt. “No cake for you.”

Marinette laughed at her friend’s reaction.

“The cat puns are only cute when Chat noir does it.” Marinette mentions as they walk. Realizing what she just said after she finishes talking, causing the girl to get flustered. “Cause it’s his gimmick not because he is cute or anything! Not that he isn’t but…”

Alya raised an eyebrow as Marinette just closed her mouth to stop talking.

“Well plan B, if Adrien doesn’t work out, I will help you steal chat noir away from Ladybug.”  

“Can we please move on from this? I think we are focusing on the wrong blond.” Marinette tried to change the subject. She wanted to focus on Adrien, not chat noir.

“Alright, fair point. Speaking of Mr. Model, how is the compatibility? Are you two still perfect for each other?” Alya inquired.

Marinette opened her phone showing her best friend the results with glee.

“It really doesn’t get boring seeing that 100%, does it? Nino and I just barely cracked 86%” Alya responded.

“It did help me get me out of bed when I remembered to answer the questions. This time I made sure to be out of bed to answer them.”

“Smart call. Speaking of smart calls, Alix picked up my request.” Alya exclaimed as she pulled out a box.

Inside was a small bottle of a perfume called ‘Odeur d'amour’ a very nice and very expensive bottle of perfume.

“How did you get this?! Isn’t it crazy expensive?” Marinette questioned as she looked at the box.

“Yes and no. Rose just happened to know a place that was offering a sale and also happened to have a cousin that has an employee discount which made it 80% off. Alix went to go get it while it was still in stock. Two months of Allowance later and here we are.”

“Two months! Alya I can’t accept it.” Marinette said solemnly.

“I am not giving you the bottle. This one is for me. I just am going to let you use some for today.” Alya smiled.

Marinette almost knocked over Alya in her embrace, making her almost drop the perfume box.

“Easy Mari! I love you too, but I don’t love you enough to not be mad if I lose this.” Alya answered.

Marinette stopped and apologized, forgetting herself for a moment.

“Sorry. I got caught up in how amazing you are.”

“You are forgiven.” Alya patted her head.

“Oh, before I forget. Lila asked me to tell you she wanted to meet you at Lunch today.”

Marinette stopped walking immediately.

“What?!” Marinette exclaimed.

“Relax Girl. I talked with Lila earlier today. She admitted to making some mistakes, and I think you should talk with her. She just wants to be friends.” Alya answered. “I am not asking you to become besties, but at least hear Lila out.”

Marinette wanted to scream that there was no way that evil, manipulative goblin was ever going to want to genuinely be her friend. But, Marinette didn’t. The designer took a deep sigh.

“Okay, I will talk with her. But I don’t promise anything.” Marinette answered.

“Thank you, Marinette. I am sure if you got to know Lila, you would see that she isn’t evil.” Alya assured.

It was lunch time when Marinette walked into the library, the place was practically empty as she saw Lila sitting at a table and looking at her phone.

Marinette took a deep calming breath. She looked into her purse, where her red Kwami was holding her phone.

“I am ready when you are Marinette.” The ladybug Kwami assured.

“Thanks Tikki.” Marinette whispered.

Marinette was not going to face Lila without a backup plan. She has Tikki recording her ‘Exchange’ with Lila, should she threaten her again. Marinette would have definitive proof of how nasty of a person Lila is.

Marinette approached Lila.

“You wanted to talk?” Marinette did her best to not sound angry or irritated.

“Yes, Please sit right next to me.” Lila said with a peppy tone.

Marinette obliged, still suspicious of the brunette’s actions.

“I need a simple favor.” Lila asked sweetly. “After that, I won’t ask anything else.”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed.

“What’s the favor?” 

“Nothing much, just answer this quiz honestly for me.” Lila explained as she passed her phone to Marinette, showing the Soulmate Searcher app. 

Marinette quickly realized what she was doing. Adrien mentioned that Lila knew about his list, therefore she knows the person that has the highest compatibility, which is her. By this logic, having her answer the questions would give Lila the score to match with Adrien.

“No.”

“Oh, please Marinette! You are the only one who can do it.”

“I am not going to let you cheat to get a high compatibility score.” Marinette exclaimed.

Marinette stood up and began to leave.

“Then I guess I will have no choice but to post the list.” Lila spoke unnaturally casual.

Marinette stops.

“What do you mean?”

Lila smiled as she walks over to Marinette and shows the photo of Adrien’s list. She has multiple copies on her phone and at home. Lila had planned for this encounter all day yesterday. She was three for three and she would end strong.

“If I was on his list there would be no reason for me to share this with the world. But if you are going to be selfish, then I think the world needs to see who Adrien’s ‘Perfect match’ is.” Lila smiled. “I can imagine angry fangirls screaming with rage as they pursued you.”

“You’re threatening me?”

“Oh, nothing of the sort, it’s just a fact that Adrien has some rather, ‘Extreme’ fans. Of course, those fans will likely find out where you go to school, where you live, who is close to you.” Lila detailed. “They would find ways of ruining your existence in a flash.”

Marinette glared at Lila. She would not be threatened like this.

“That isn’t going to work on me Lila.”

“Then after you, they would go after Kagami.”

“Kagami can protect herself fine.” Marinette assured. “If anything, I would be more worried about you if Kagami found out.”

“What about the girl in third place? And the girl after her, and the girl after her and so on? Would you let seven innocent girls get mobbed and hurt because you wouldn’t answer a quiz?” Lila twisted the dagger.

“They wouldn’t believe it’s real.” Marinette exclaimed.

“Just like how your friends and classmates believed you before?” Lila’s words cut deeply.

Marinette knew she couldn’t risk it. Lila was crazy enough to do it. But Marinette did have Tikki recording the whole situation, so at least she can show proof to school that Lila isn’t who she says she is.

“Okay. I will answer the quiz.” Marinette answered in defeat.

“Good girl. And before you think about deleting the photo from my phone, I already have backups on my computer.” Lila answered.

“Just give me the quiz.” Marinette growled irritated.

“It’s alright dude, it isn’t the end of the world.” Kim tried to comfort his best friend.

The buff athlete padded the robot enthusiast as he looked distraught over what was on his screen. The blond model noticed the two in the classroom as he went to grab something from his desk.

“What’s wrong Max?” Adrien asked as he happened to walk by.

“My days of research have all been for nothing. Most of my dummy profiles have been wiped from the server!” Max answered in anguish.

“Dummy profiles?” 

“Max made some like fake people to test stuff about the app. But the people that run the app called foul on his accounts and gave them the red card.” Kim explained in a mix of sports metaphors.

“Um… Sorry, I didn’t follow that.” Adrien confessed.

“I made test accounts to explore the app’s algorithm. But thanks to last night’s update, all bots are being wiped from the server. And any account that the mods suspect is a bot is put under suspension. Days of work down the drain.”

Adrien felt bad for the tech genius. but also found himself curious on how this happened.

“How did the mods even know about your fake accounts?”

“Well, I rigged most of my accounts to have identical answers, right down to the write in questions. From what I gathered, the mods figured that no two profiles are ever the exact same, so the earliest profile with those answers are kept.” 

“Wow, I guess that makes sense on how they figured it out. That’s a pretty creative solution.” Adrien responded. “Sorry, that was insensitive of me.”

“No, you are right, it is theoretically sound reasoning. No person would ever try to make a real account have the exact same answers as another, that would be incredibly stupid.”

“To the letter. All of your answers have to be exact. I want to reach 100%.” Lila exclaimed. “Don’t try to cheat me by messing up once.”

“I know I know.” Marinette grumbled. “I am doing it exactly as I did it before.”

Whether it was fortunate or not, over the course of improving her profile Marinette has seen all of the questions that Lila’s core profile was being made from. Marinette answered them to the letter as Lila requested, much to her disgust.

“And done.” Marinette spoke as she pushed the phone to Lila. “There, now we are finished.”

Marinette tried to walk off but Lila grabbed her shoulder.

“I need to make sure you didn’t try to screw me over.” Lila answered. “You are staying to see the results.

Marinette felt her stomach flip in disgust. Nothing sounded less appealing to her. She had helped Lila reach her objective of 100% compatibility with Adrien, and Lila was going to make her watch.

Lila smiled as she pressed the button.

After about a minute, a notification popped up.

Lila looked at the message.

‘We regret inform you that this account is under investigation. We apologize for the inconvenience and after our mods are finishing investigating and deem the account real we will reinstate your profile and you are free to try and recreate your core profile. Thank you for your patience…’

Marinette looked at the screen and looked at Lila’s shocked expression. The look on Lila’s face was something that gave Marinette a feeling that could only describe as ‘if Christmas and her birthday combined into one.’

Marinette started laughing. She almost fell on the floor laughing as Lila stood frozen looking at her phone. This was too perfect.

Lila was fuming.

“What did you do!?” Lila hissed.

“I ha ha I did what you asked.” Marinette spoke between fits of laughter. “Exactly like you asked.”

The brunette felt her frustration and anger boil.

“You KNEW this would happen Didn’t you!?” Lila accused.

Marinette began laughing louder.

“I wish I did, but I am so glad I didn’t.” Marinette laughed louder. “This is perfect. You are such a liar that the app thought your profile was a bot!”

“This is bullshit! You… you conniving little toad! I will get to the bottom of this, and you will pay.”

Marinette’s giggle fit calmed down. She wiped the tear that was coming out of her eye. Marinette was done laughing.

She went into her purse. And pulled out her phone.

“I think not.” Marinette says with confidence.

She presses play and watched as Lila’s anger shifted to one of surprise. She heard their conversation, her threat to her, to other people. Lila went pale for a moment.

“I have the recording drafted on a message ready to be sent to all of my contacts. You try anything and it’s over.” Marinette answered. “So, do yourself a favor and stop trying to manipulate me and my friends.”

Lila scoffed. She absolutely despised Marinette. It was starting to get close to her hatred of Ladybug, but it was still not there yet, and Marinette hasn’t won yet.

“This isn’t over. Not by a long shot.” Lila grumbled as she stormed off, leaving Marinette with a confident smile on her face.

“I think I might have gone a little too far.” Marinette confessed.

“Lila may get akumatized over this, but this isn’t your fault, it is hers.” Tikki assured. “I think you made the right call. And if she does get akumatized, we will handle it.”

“Thanks Tikki” Marinette sweetly pat her Kwami on the head as they began walking out of the library.

In a room filled with white butterflies. stood a man in a purple suit and a silver face mask. The window opened to reveal the villain of Paris known as Hawkmoth.

“Oh the amount of negative emotion is tempting. But I will hold off for now. After all, the main event has yet to come and that will be something with far more bite. But for now, let it fester, let is gather, and let it grow.” The villain monologued

Hawkmoth had an inkling on who this person was. Miss Rossi would make a good akuma right now, but he would hold off, he wants to catch the heroes off guard, and the best time will be during that interview. Besides, Lila’s negative emotions can still grow, if he is going to act on them, he wants them at their highest emotional distress.

Chapter Text

The tension between Lila and Marinette grew as class resumed. Lila was practically glaring a hole into the back of the designer’s head. Marinette would occasionally look back, a split second showing a scowl before her natural look would pop back. No one else seemed to be aware of the situation.

The two of them knew that the other had something. The exchange student had been mentally kicking herself for not thinking ahead. She should have known Marinette would have been recording her. In any normal circumstance, she was certain she would easily trounce that pigtailed loser because up until this point Marinette was never a threat to her, its only when that stupid app showed up did things go the other way.  Now Marinette can make things difficult for her, but Lila knows that if she sends out the list, Marinette will send out the recording. If Marinette sent out the recording, Lila posts the list. The two were deadlocked without gaining any sort of advantage on the other.

Lila knew she had one chance to bring everything back to normal. She needed to get to Marinette’s phone, delete the recording and then post the list. If she can post the list when the recording was gone, she can claim it was some crazed hacker that got in, and Marinette wouldn’t have proof. She had till Marinette got home to do it. Lila’s thoughts were put on hold when the teacher spoke up.

“Alright class, I have an important matter to attend to, so I will be allowing the rest of our time for free period.” Miss Bustier announced with a soft smile on her face. The teacher was a bit excited, she had a date tonight, and she wanted to make sure she had everything settled so she wouldn’t have to worry about anything for it. “You are free to move around the school as long as you don’t cause a ruckus. I trust all of you will use this period productively.”

The class cheered as their homeroom teacher stepped out to go to the teachers lounge.

Lila was planning to snag Marinette’s bag real quick, until she noticed Alya and a group of most of her female classmates swarm around Marinette, pulling her out of the classroom.

Lila wanted to find a way to sneak Marinette’s phone, but with that entourage that just snagged her away with her stuff. It would not be possible. But the question was, what were those girls up to?

Lila noticed Adrien getting up from his desk, saying something about having to message someone and heading out.

Lila decided the Dj would likely know. Thankfully she was able to ease his suspicions of her earlier.

“Hey Nino? All by yourself?” Lila asked, trying to sound sympathetic.

Nino shrugs.

“Its no big deal.  Adrien needs to talk with his pop’s assistant about something and Alya is helping Marinette get ready for her date with Adrien.”

Lila blinks.

“Im sorry, I think I blanked out for a second. What did you say?”

Lila was using every ounce of will power she had to not sound angry.

“No Worries, happens to me all the time.” Nino casually remarked.  “Adrien invited Marinette to go with him to his Tv interview on ‘Scoops and Scandals’. That gossip show for celebrities. Adrien may not have said it, but I totally think its a date, and Alya is going to be sure Marinette looks rocking for it. I am surprised you didn’t know. Oh right, you were sick yesterday. So good news is you don’t need to worry about Marinette and Adrien, I think they will be just fine.”

“Wow, thats… Thats so great! I just knew they were perfect for eachother.”

Lila may have been smiling on the outside but she was mentally screaming on the inside.

“Yes I will remember to keep it professional.” Adrien responded as he stood in the hallway. He had been listening to Nathalie talk at him about the Do’s and Don’ts of the interview for most of his free period.

Nathalie had messaged him to call her before his bodyguard arrived to pick him up.

“Your father wanted you to be aware that this interview reflects not just you, but the Gabriel brand. He wants to be sure you remember to not get swayed by anything they ask you. Answer with poise and calm.” Nathalie stated.

“Tell my father that I understand his expectations and I will be sure to make sure it goes well.”

Or he can call me and tell me this himself.

“Also, your father mentioned that he believes your choice of guest was wise. Miss Dupain-Cheng is a talented designer and would understand the importance of Appearances.”

Adrien was happy at the praise his father gave Marinette, it was what she deserved.

“Thank you Nathalie.” Adrien said as he hung up just as the dismissal bell rang.

“So much for free period.” Adrien sighed. He was a bit sad about missing some bro time with Nino, but school was done and he was going to meet Marinette to go to the interview. He hasn’t been able to talk with her at all today, with classes and activities, things were to hectic. 

Adrien made his way outside of the school where his bodyguard was waiting in front of the black limo.

“Girl you look incredible.” The Alya exclaimed. 

“You looks so pretty.” Myléne chimed in.

“Like a real princess.” Rosé sang with glee.

“Adrien will probably have a heart attack. Go for the kill.” Alix complimented.

Juleka gave a reassuring thumbs up. 

“Thank you…” Marinette was blushing from all the praise. Marinette felt her nerves catch up with her. She was going to meet Adrien, She was going to with Adrien to his interview. 

“Can you girls give us a moment?” Alya asked politely.

The girls nodded, wishing Marinette luck. as they left the two.

The ladyblogger places her hands on her best friend’s shoulders.

“You can do this Mari, I believe in you. This is your chance to win his heart, and you got to get out of your own head and go for it.” 

Marinette nodded. She was feeling pumped.

“Okay! I can do it! I will win him over. I can do this!” 

“Atta girl!” 

Marinette was about to rush out but stops herself. She remembered something rather crucial.

“Alya, can I send you something for safe keeping real quick?”Marinette questioned. 

The glasses wearing teen looked bit surprised by the tone shift.

“Um… sure. No problem.”

Marinette smiled. Sending her an email.

“Don’t send this around yet. Just keep it safe. It would put me at ease knowing you have it.” Marinette informed.

“No prob girl, Now go get your man.”

“Right!”

Marinette charged out of the bathroom, determined to knock Adrien Agreste’s Gabriel brand socks off.

Alya smiled like a proud sister from another mister. As she stood in the bathroom, her curiosity took a hold of her.

“I wonder what was so important…”

Adrien was looking around as students were leaving the building, he was wondering where Marinette was. He would need to leave soon, and the bodyguard was getting impatient.

Was she having second thoughts about this? Did something come up? Did Luka show up and serenade her with his cool hair and beautiful musical prowess resulting in Marinette completely falling in love with the musician. Which resulted in them off to elope while I am standing here wondering?

Adrien realized his mind was taking that thought process way too far off the track. He would just call her. He look down to look through his contact list.

“H-Hey Adrien.” A soft voice called to him.

The model looked up to see Marinette. That was not what she was wearing earlier. His eyes go wide as he processed her look.

Oh sweet ladybug… Marinette looks incredible.

Marinette had her hair down, it was brushed and hung to just short of her shoulders. In her hair she had a small golden bell tied to a green ribbon in her hair. She was wearing a sweet pink lipstick that made her lips look so much more kissable to the blond then before, (which Adrien would admit were pretty kissable before, he was definitely not against it when the class was filming that movie).

She was wearing a black leather jacket. It was clearly inspired by Chat noir. Adrien would say that the Jacket looked reminiscent the top part of his costume in terms of looks and design, save for the green paw print that was placed on the  back of the jacket and his little golden bell. There was even a nod to the cat’s baton, which the zipper looked like a tiny version of it. 

 This theme extended to her dress which was a light green and had a black belt sash around the waist looking identical to the one Chat noir had. Her dress also was decorated with little black paw prints and her signature stitching at the hem of the dress. Lastly even her choice of footwear was nod to the cat themed hero of Paris, the black boots with chat noir green laces that were less for combat and more for fashion, though seemed practical to wear regardless of circumstance. She even had a chat noir themed bag, the front looking like an adorable black cat. The amount of detail in every part of the outfit was incredible.

(AN: Adrien vision lol)

Her outfit was based off of him, her outfit was inspired by him. She was beautiful. Adrien felt his face heat up, his pulse racing. He could swear he had never seen anyone look this incredible in his life.

She looks Purrfect Adrien thought as his inner chat noir took hold.

Marinette approached the speechless boy.

“This isn’t too much is it? When I told Alya the other day that I was going to the interview, she told the girls and things got a bit nuts. If its….” 

“You’re beautiful.” Adrien interrupted, his face registering what he said after they left his lips.

“Im..” Marinette’s face was Ladybug red.

“You look great! I am glad you took their advice. My dad mentioned that having you as my guest was a smart move. He really sees your potential as a designer which makes sense because you are incredible at that to. The outfit is amazing.” Adrien sped through his words faster then he expected. He was nervous, he was really, Really nervous. He was not prepared for Marinette to be this dazzling. No one could be prepared for this.

Marinette felt her chest pounding against her ribs. This blond was going to kill her, and she hasn’t even gotten into the car.

“You look really great to. You look good in white.” Marinette managed to say coherently. She noticed he was wearing her scarf, the scarf she made for his birthday that he didn’t know she made. It increased the speed of her already fast heartbeat. “The scarf works well the outfit.”

The two were frozen as they looked at each other. Smiling through their blushing faces. Thankfully the hulking bodyguard was there to cough and get their attention. He motions that they need to leave.

Adrien was able to snap back to reality. He opened the car door.

“After you.” Adrien politely offered.

“Thank you.” Marinette spoke as she. went into the rather spacious vehicle. Carefully sitting on the leather interior.

Adrien moved in and sat next to her. Closing the door.

“Fuck my life.” Lila cursed to herself. She was planning on finding a way to get to Marinette’s phone and deleting the evidence, but she had no chance to even get close, and just when she thought she could, Marinette has a date with Adrien!

Lila grumbled as she walked home, wondering what to do next. As soon as Marinette was back home she would likely store the recording in her computer, and make copies. Thats what she would do if she was Marinette. Perhaps she could break into the studio and find a way to get to her phone while she was distracted? But where would she get a distraction big enough to do that?”

Lila bumped into a long black haired girl who was turning the corner. Making Lila drop her phone, almost breaking it.

“Watch it.” Lila snapped.

“Sorry! I didn’t see you.” The girl apologized. “I was just off to this viewing party for the Adrien agreste interview and I didn’t see you! Please don’t be mad.” The girl squeaked.

Lila was ready to really let the small girl have it for almost breaking her phone, but the her apology caught her attention.

“Adrien Agreste viewing party?” Lila inquired, a smile replacing her scowl.

“Yeah, the Adriknight’s are hosting an event, you can come if you are a fan of Adrien.”

“A fan? I am his best friend.” Lila boasted. The liar smiled as she watched the girls eyes light up. Lila smiled as she showed Adrien agreste’s phone number.  Which she managed to get from a naive friendly Adrien early on.

“You are! Oh man, Vi- I mean Adrienne will be stoked to hear about Adrien’s best friend coming to her party.”

“Wonderful.”

Lila followed the excited fangirl as they headed to the viewing party. Lila had a new plan. She knew she would get that recording, she just needed a little help from a certain butterfly enthusiast to do it.

Come on Adrien, she is right there. Just say something. Say anything! Whatever you do, don't sit here like a dead fish!

“So… you like cats?” Adrien asked, mentally slapping himself for the genuine stupidity of his statement.

Nevermind, the silence earlier was much better.

Thankfully, Marinette giggled.

“You could say that.” Marinette responded. 

“I bet Chat noir would love to see you in that.” Adrien stated, he knew for a fact he wanted to transform right now and compliment her about using his hero identity as a basis for the outfit.

“I am glad you think so. I also had one in mind for Rena Rogue and Carapace later down the line. But the Chat noir idea was something I felt really stuck out.” Marinette answered. “He doesn’t really get as much merchandise or attention as Ladybug even though he is out there risking his life too.”

Adrien felt his heart seize at her statement. He remembered how she had confessed to him as chat noir. Back then, it was already a painful choice, but if he had to face that choice now, he felt like he wouldn’t be able to turn her down. 

“I like the idea, your attention to detail is always… A-meow-zing to see.” Adrien punned as he tried to move his mind past his thoughts.

Marinette chuckled a bit at his pun, 

“What about you? What hero of Paris inspires you?”

“Chat noir can be pretty cool. But I would say Ladybug is my favorite superhero. She always has the right idea at the right time, always there to save the day, and she always does.”

Marinette’s eyes went wide as he continued talking about Ladybug.

“She is stunning, it feels like she could fight all of Paris by herself. I can only imagine the stress and pressure she must be under, and she still pulls through with this confidence that makes you feel like everything will be okay. I would love to be with her… helping her save the city.” Adrien recovered.  He realized he was about to spill his feelings about Ladybug to Marinette, would she be mad about that? Adrien remembered how chloé would be furious anytime Adrien mentioned something positive about other girls, but Marinette wouldn’t be like that would she? Of course not, Marinette would never be like that.

“I am sure Ladybug would think you would be a great hero. You are definitely kind and brave, you always try to help other people. You always see the good in others, and you fence which would be useful in fighting bad guys.” Marinette listed.“ You would be someone I would be happy knowing is protecting Paris.”

Marinette was worried that she might have came on a bit strong. She couldn’t help but be frazzled after he praised her ladybug self so much. It was incredible how he saw her, it was like he understood, though he doesn’t seem to grasp that she has good people helping her out. She would be lost without Tikki, Chat noir, Fu and the other miraculous wielders she chose to help out from time to time. She also couldn’t help but feel if she knew it was her, would his opinion of her change? But she did know one thing for certain.

I know there is a miraculous meant for Adrien. Next chance I can, he will be getting one... If he is the right person for it. I still think he did a great job with the snake miraculous. Even though he gave it up, He did pick Luka for it and things turned out well. I am sure he would be an amazing hero. 

Adrien felt his heart skip a beat. She thought he would make a good hero. He already was one, but if he was Ladybug and he had to pick who would get a miraculous, he would pick Marinette, not just because he has one already, but because Marinette would be an amazing hero. Adrien made a mental note to recommend Marinette for the next time Ladybug needed a new hero.

“If I would make a great hero, you would probably be the best hero since Ladybug.” Adrien praised, causing the designer to blush. “You are always pushing yourself to help others, you go out of your way to understand people, you are kind and always ready to spring into action, you are amazingly creative, you are already like an everyday Ladybug. If you got super powers, you would be even more incredible.”

Adrien of course knows Ladybug did give Marinette a chance with the mouse miraculous. And she was amazing. It sucked though that Ladybug said she might not get called to use the miraculous again. He would vouch on her behalf.

Plus, it would be a lot of fun flirting with Multimouse. 

“I bet we would make a great team.” Marinette spoke up. She realized she said those words out loud. She felt embarrassed. She could only imagine the two of them on a team fighting crime together. It sounded like a dream.

“I bet we would be miraculous.” Adrien smiled. “Watch out Hawkmoth, Super Marinette and Adrien are the next heroes of Paris.”

The two teens chuckled for a bit just as the car stopped. They had arrived at the Tv studio.

Lila felt her entire being cringe.

A viewing party that girl called it, there was maybe 4 people here not including herself. There were cupcakes, balloons, decorations, and banners with Adrien’s face on them. Also a small bag full of small Adrien buttons that was filled to the brim sat on the table near the door. It was so gaudy and with only four people here it felt gross to her.

Lila wanted nothing more then to turn around, walk away and never think about this ever again.

“Welcome!” An overly enthusiastic red head exclaimed. “I am so happy to see a fresh face come to one of our viewing parties. I am Adrienne.”

Lila faked a smile.

“Lila. It is so nice to meet you.” Lila fought the strain to get those words out. “I am surprised by everything. It looks so… Adrien.”

“Thank you! I worked for days to get those cupcakes to look perfect! I heard from Maggie that you are friends with Adrien.”

“Thats right.” Lila replied. 

The brunette reminded herself of why she was even there in the first place.

“We tell each other everything. We are practically D…” Lila stopped herself when she saw the red head’s face contort into rage. “Definite pals for life that are completely platonic and no way romantic.”

Adrienne’s face went back to normal. Lila realized that lying about dating Adrien was not the smartest move in a room with a rabid fangirl.

“That is so great! Would you set up a meeting with him sometime. It would be amazing if the Adriknights could get a visit from the Adrien Agreste.”

“I will see what I can do, he is very busy.” Lila fibbed. “So when is everyone else getting here.”

“Well Shelly is out sick with the flu, poor girl. So we are all here.” Adrienne answered. “ Oh! I should check on the cake.” She left the room, Lila felt a chill run down her spine.

The girl that brought her here moved beside her.

“Yea… Adrienne is kind of intense. Back when she was only co-president, our fan club had about 30 members, but once Wayhem left, there was no one to help keep her from getting too crazy about Adrien, so that drove away most of our members. Please don’t hate her, she is a really nice person, just… very obsessive. Anything regarding Adrien is what she is about, honestly the day he gets a girlfriend I worry for her. She would probably go off the deep end.”

“Oh… I understand. Well I would hope she calms down about it.” Lila takes a mental note of that. She had a plan.

It was worth coming after all.

“You will be needed on set in 5 minutes Mr. Agreste. Can I get you and your guest anything?”

“We are good, thank you.” Adrien answered as the set director left to attend to last minute details.

Marinette and Adrien were relaxing in the green room. As soon as they arrived, Adrien was ushered around to different areas. His hair combed, his face given a good amount of make up to help reduce shine when the camera’s were on him. People telling the boy multiple different things that Marinette could hardly follow but Adrien handled each one with grace and poise. Marinette was dazzled by everything.

“Sorry its been non-stop. Just some standard procedure for one of these interviews.” 

“It does seem overwhelming. I don’t understand how you can keep up with everything. Its incredible.” 

“I just sort of got use to it. Very few people are good at their first interview. Once you make it into the fashion industry, I am sure you will have to do a bunch of interviews.” 

“When?”

“Yeah, I know how good your designs are, not many people can make the stuff you can. You have amazing designs, from hats, shirts, jackets, dresses, rock albums, costumes, scarfs…” He answered. His tone softening when he touched the blue scarf around his neck. 

Marinette felt surprise spring on her face.

Did he know?

Adrien stood up and walked over to her. He touched her hand and looked into her eyes. Marinette could feel the blood rush to her face.

“Thank you, For the best gift my father ever gave me.” Adrien sincerely thanked. 

“Adrien.. I…”

“Mr.Agreste. You are needed on set.” The set manager interrupted. Not even remotely paying attention to the mood in the room.

“Thats my cue. I will see you after it is over. Wish me luck.” Adrien winked.

Marinette felt her courage boiling, she was going to move. She had been working hard to show him how she felt, she was going to prove he can do it.

Before he moved, Marinette placed a soft kiss on his cheek. Causing the blond to look surprised.

“For …. For luck.” Marinette stuttered as Adrien swears her smile just beamed right through his chest.

Adrien returned her smile. 

“Thanks, I got more then enough luck now.” He responded sweetly before leaving the green room.

Adrien touched his cheek as he headed to the set. He hoped his cheeks would calm down as he made it to the stage.

Marinette fell back on the couch. She would head out to watch the interview, but she needed a minute to come back down to earth.

Chapter Text

Alya was relaxing in her room. She was looking at her laptop and was thinking of what to do? Adrien’s interview didn’t start for another half an hour, nothing new regarding Ladybug and Chat noir, and she had zero motivation in tackling her homework. She was considering messaging her boyfriend and seeing if he wanted to play some ‘Super penguino’, he would likely say yes. Just as she picked up her phone, she remembered that thing Marinette sent her.

“Oh yea, what was this about.” She said aloud as she looked at the audio recording. “Jeez, 40 minute?! What did she do? An interview?”

Alya shrugged, ‘super penguino’ can wait. She pressed play and began listening to the recording.

“And We. Are. Live! Welcome my lovely listeners! I’m your gal with the gift for gab, Sonny Potins and you’re watching ‘Scoops and Scandal’, the show that brings up the scoops and scandals with your favorite Celebs.” The enthusiastic wavy blonde haired host exclaimed. She was in her mid twenties and was wearing plenty of make up. “And today we have a very special guest, you have seen his ads all over Paris, the young model who is the face of the Gabriel brand, the golden boy of Paris, the one and only, Adrien Agreste.”

The spot light shined on Adrien as he approached the stage to his seat with the audio from the cologne ad playing in the background. The studio audience cheered as the model walked with a cool yet approachable attitude. A bunch of them screaming ‘I love you!” “Adrien!’ ‘You are amazing’.  Adrien smiled and waved at the audience.

Sonny was sitting in a comfy leather chair across from Adrien, who was sitting in an identical chair. She was sitting on the left, and her was sitting on the right. A table with two water bottles and two microphones stood between them. The chairs were angled to help the two face each other while also face the cameras and the audience. Above them was a jumbo screen that would show clips, info, and whatever the people in charge wanted to show. Usually fan submitted questions, photos or live cam.

“Happy to be here.” Adrien greeted the audience.

“And I’m sure all of Paris feel the same way. So, let’s get the ball rolling.”

Back stage, Marinette watched out of view of the studio audience, she looked to see Adrien notice her and give her a quick wink before looking back at the host. Marinette smiled at his sudden wink, doing her best to stay calm.

“Seems like everything is going well.” A voice whispered from Marinette’s jacket.

“Yea, I can’t believe Adrien found out about the scarf. I thought he would be sad about finding out the gift wasn’t from his father.” Marinette whispered.

“He is happy to have someone who cares about his feelings. You both seem to be really connecting.” Tikki assured. “I think he doesn’t see you as a just a friend anymore.”

“You really think so?”

“Call it a hunch, but in the mean time, we should probably listen in. Maybe you can learn more about him through this interview.”

“I am pretty sure it won’t reveal anything new, most of these interviews are just for publicity, repeating questions that were asked in the past. But I am glad Adrien is getting the screen time he deserves. He is really great.” Marinette responded. “Though I am not opposed to watching at all.”

Tikki rolled her eyes and smiled at her chosen. Marinette sure was helpless when it came to Adrien, but the same could be said about Chat noir around Ladybug. How the red bug Kwami wanted to reveal this tidbit of information to Marinette. But she said she wouldn’t and the time will come one day.

_______________________________________________________________________

“And I was right about his favorite color!” One of the four girls squeaked.

“We all got that question! I expect nothing less from the Adri-knights.” Adrienne answered with pride.

Lila was sitting to the side of the couch as she watched these four fangirls gush at every word that Adrien said, it was nauseating. The interview was so by the book that it was boring, combine that fact with annoying fans and it only gets worse. The brunette had begun contemplating the pros and cons of a lobotomy by plastic spoon, but she knew she would have to endure. 

Adrienne was the perfect person to set up to be akumatized, she needed to wait for something to make her upset, anything that would bring potential negative emotions to draw an akuma here. But this interview was kid stuff. But then something caught her attention. Lila tuned back into the tv to listen to a particularly interesting thread the host was spinning.

“…but yes I am allergic to feathers, but as long as I am not wearing them or breath near them, I don’t sneeze.” Adrien answered.

“Adrien, you are quite an enigma in this city. a young teen that is one of the most well-known faces in Paris, a voice actor, and has his own line of cologne, which is just getting an international release.” Sonny exclaimed. The crowd cheered as the jumbo screen showed a picture of the Ad. “Yet you are one of the sweetest people I ever had the pleasure of interviewing. Most stars around your age are… well they are spoiled brats to put it mildly. What helps you stay so kind and keeps you grounded?”

The crowd was quiet as they waited for Adrien’s answer.

“Well I am lucky enough to be surrounded by talented people. My Best buddy Nino is an up and coming DJ, his girlfriend, Alya, runs the Ladyblog, my fencing Teammate, Kagami, comes from a legacy of proud fencers, and Marinette is a fashion designer that has designed works that the fashion critic Audrey Borgeois and My father have both approved of. The latter of which I can tell you personally is no small feat.”

“Talented people indeed.”

“And then of course the fact that we live in a city full of superheroes. Nothing is more awe inspiring and humbling then seeing Ladybug save Paris. She is just so incredible. It is reassuring knowing that she is watching over Paris. She is really Miraculous” Adrien slightly gushed before bringing it back. “Those are just some of the amazing people I know and know off, it’s easy to remember to stay humble when you are surrounded by wonderful people.”

The crowd awed at the cute statement. They were eating up his words.

“You are quite the fan of Ladybug. If I remember correctly she has saved you a few times. Should Chat noir be worried if you have a crush on the spotted heroine?” Sonny teased.

The crowd ‘Ooo’at the expression like a 90’s sitcom.

The blond blushed, but didn’t let himself get flustered.

“I am sure Chat noir wouldn’t hold it against me. I am pretty sure everyone in Paris has a little crush on Ladybug.” Adrien deflected. “It would be easier to make a list of people who didn’t like Ladybug.”

The crowd clapped in agreement, Ladybug was a well-respected hero and the Blond made an excellent point. Marinette smiled at the little display, Adrien was able to easily handle everything the host was throwing at him. She also was a little happy to hear that her crush was a fan of her hero identity.

“Truer words have never been spoken. Though speaking of the cat hero, he happens to be a handsome blond hero with a certain flare, are you actually chat noir?” Sonny prodded. “Because that is a popular theory going around.

Adrien for a split second felt a tingle of fear in the back of his spine, but thankfully he knew the host was playing with him.  So, he laughed it off.

“Secrets out, that’s why I was cast to voice him in the movie.” Adrien remarked with a clearly joking tone.

The crowd laughed at the attempt at humor.

“If that were the case, my father would have a trademark on all of the Chat noir merchandise in Paris.” Adrien answered.

“I heard your father is pretty protective of your image. Is it true that people can’t take any pictures of you without you or your father’s consent without being fined?”

“Pictures are fine as long as they don’t try to make merchandise of me or use it for financial gain like in magazines, media and tabloids. Thats when people get sued. Thats why there aren’t that many paparazzi that hang out by the Agreste manor, they couldn’t handle the lawsuits.” Adrien explained. “Not exactly easy to do, my father spent a fortune doing that, but considering the industry he was in, he more then made back his money.”

Marinette blinked.

That explained why he was never hounded at school by photographers. Though that didn’t really stop the fans when that ad first came out.

“Fascinating, your father must be pretty protective over you?”

“It’s his way of showing he cares.”

Adrien managed to maintain a smile despite how irritated he was over how protective and controlling his father is.

“So that means having permission to bring a guest to any of your events must be a hard sell.” Sonny continued prodding.

“He is easing up a bit more ever since he said I could go to school. I can sometimes bring friends along to events, like fashions shows and photoshoots.” Adrien assured. “I was even able to bring a guest to this interview.”

Sonny nodded.

“Oh, yes. I believe I bumped into her when you both showed up. I believe her name was Marinette. She was the designer you mentioned earlier. Correct?”

“That’s right. Marinette is pretty great. I’m glad she was able to come along.” Adrien responded.

Marinette smiling brightly at the comment, he was happy she was there.

Sonny smirked, she had found a way to kick this interview up a notch.

“Hey can we get a view of Adrien’s cute guest? I remember her wearing this amazing outfit and I think the audience will love to meet her.”  Sonny asked.

“Wait I think she should have a say before…” Adrien tried to interject but sure enough the big screen revealed a camera showing up behind Marinette.

“Say hi sweetie, you are on the air.” Sonny called out.

The bluish-black haired designer turned around and noticed the camera. She nervously waved, unsure of what to do.

“H-hi sweetie.” Marinette parroted nervously. She wished she was better prepared for this. Granted it wasn’t the first time a camera caught her off guard, she still remembers when the cameras following Jagged stone went into her room. That was a real nightmare, this might be a close second.

The crowd was cheering as they saw Marinette on the screen. One person in the audience yelling ‘Damn she cute!’ but no one knew where.

“Oh wow, she is cute.” Sonny commented. “I need to find out where she got that outfit, it is incredible.”

“She made it herself. That is just one of her designs.” Adrien answered. “But I think we should turn the camera off, I don’t think she would like to be on camera without permission.”

“Of course.” Sonny motioned quickly and the screen stopped showing Marinette. “I guess we got a little over excited her on SaS. That’s what I call this little show.”

“As I was saying. Marinette did design that outfit herself. She told me it was inspired by Chat noir and I must say it is very impressive.”

Adrien veered the conversation back to avoid that awkward moment. He made a mental note to make sure Marinette was okay with being on camera like that and apologize if she wasn’t. He had told her she would likely not be on camera, and this was counter to what he had said.

“Well I see why you are humbled by her talent. That design is to die for. Though are you worried that Chat noir might steal her away from you? She did base a design off of him.” Sonny poked.

Adrien felt a faint blush thinking about this.

“I am sure Chat noir would probably find himself falling for her if she wore that in front of him.” Adrien answered, more honestly then the audience knew. 

“So, what is your relationship with this Marinette? Are you dating? Because I do remember rumors floating around about you running around Paris with a mystery girl? Omg is SHE that mystery girl?!” Sonny excitedly interrogated, causing the crows to lean forward and ‘Ooooooooh’

“Marinette was one of the first people that helped me out when I first started class, though we didn’t exactly get off on the right foot at first.”

“Someone that didn’t love you after first meeting you? I find that hard to believe.” Sonny replied.

The Designer was beet red from the previous questions and was now listening super closely. She was going to get to hear how Adrien thought of her.

“You could almost say she hated me, but considering how she thought I put gum on her seat, I doubt anyone would have had a high opinion of me.” Adrien continued. “It didn’t matter that I was a model or had a decent face…”

One person on the audience screamed ‘Your face is perfect!’ which got a few claps. Adrien nodded in the direction mouthing a ‘Thanks’ before facing the camera again.

“It was the first time I realized someone was treating me like a person, not just as a model or as some rich person that needed to be coddled. It made me want to change her mind, her opinion of me mattered. Because it was someone that was judging me for me, not my reputation, not my family, just me.” Adrien confessed.

Marinette remembered that moment in the rain outside of the school. It was the moment that she fell in love with him.

“I managed to clear the air with her and she was happy to move past it once she heard me out about the misunderstanding. After that, I started to get to know her.”

 Adrien found the words flowing out of him with ease, he was trying to stay composed but couldn’t help but get happy as he talked about her.

“She had become my first real friend even though it was a bit bumpy at first, she always seemed nervous around me, I thought it was because she was still on guard, but I realized that it was just her being Marinette, she always seemed nervous but never let it stop her from helping people. She is someone I admire and someone that I can say I am better for knowing.” Adrien finished.

The crowd was surprised by his answer. kind of silent by it.

Adrien realized he had more or less spilled out how he felt about her. 

Crap… So much for keeping it calm and professional. I was so busy trying to not to put a label on it that I ended up spilling my guts. 

The audience started clapping. There was thunderous applause, they were moved by Adrien’s word. 

At the edge of the stage, Marinette was crying happy tears. 

He thinks of me like that.

The audience’s applause seemed to die down and Sonny was able to speak up again.

“Truly beautiful wording. But that didn’t really answer the question.” Sonny pointed out. She smiled as she noticed something on his cheek that was pointing away from the camera.

“Seems the make-up crew missed a spot. There seems to be some lip gloss on your cheek there.” Sonny stated with glee. “And what a familiar shade it is.”

Adrien and Marinette’s faces shared the same red blush and their thoughts were in sync.

OH FUCK!

“And we will find out more about that and answer some fan questions… When we come back!” Sonny answered as she closed out for commercial.

“Oh, wow things are really getting interesting.” Nino commented to himself as he was watching Tv and the interview went into commercial. “Good on Marinette for making a move.”

He decided to support his friend by watching the interview, at first it was pretty dull, until Adrien started talking about him and their friends. Of course, that host smelled blood in the water and she kept on attacking. He notices his phone buzz. It was a text from Alya.

‘Open the door asap!’

Oh crap! Did I forget something important! Think Nino, is today her birthday? No that is next month. Anniversary? No that was last month. What did I mess up?

Nino opened the door to see his rather furious girlfriend at the door.

“Hey Babe, have you been watching Adrien’s interview? Things are really… is something wrong?” Nino asked cautiously.

“First, is anyone home aside from you?” Alya asked, talking with an eerie calm.

“Are you planning on Killing me?” Nino asked trying to pretend like he was joking.

“Not you, you are wonderful. Someone else.” Alya assured.

“Oh, then yea. It’s just me.”

“Okay good.” Alya smiled for a second before closing the door before letting her emotions out. “THAT TWO-FACED BITCH LIED TO OUR FACE!”

 “Wait who?”

“Lila! She blatantly lied to our faces! She told us that she was sorry, that it was a simple error in judgment. That she was doing this to help Marinette and Adrien! It was all a load of crap! My Intuition was picking up on this but I ignored it because I didn’t have proof. But now I have proof!”

“Babe, deep breaths. What proof?”

“You are going to want to sit down for this.”

Lila felt her fist tremble as she watched that interview. She was disgusted by his praise of Ladybug, how he kept so calm and collected, but then, then he started talking about Marinette. He was practically saying he worshiped the ground she walked on and then just to add insult to injury, that comment about Lip gloss.

The brunette wanted to scream, but her emotions seemed to cool when she noticed Adrienne’s reaction.

“Who is that girl!?” Adrienne shouted as she shot up from the couch. 

“How come she gets to get so close to Adrien!? How come he is practically singing her praises! Just because she is a designer? I designed all of these banners! I designed the Adri-knight Logo!” 

“Adrienne… Please calm down, I don’t think they are dating. He would have clarified it if they were.” Maggie tried to ease.

Lila felt her rage turn to sinister inspiration.

“Oh Adrienne, I am really sorry to tell you this, but they are.” Lila lied with a saddened tone.

The three other girls looked at Lila with wide eyes. As if saying ‘What have you done’

“WHAT!?! That can’t be true. You are lying!” Adrienne cried out.

Lila walked over.

“They started dating a few days ago, after they got matched up in Soulmate Searcher.”

Adrienne felt her knees wobble.

“That’s not possible… I made an account, I would have showed up on his list if he had one.”

Lila pulled out her phone and showed her a photo, one that showed Adrien’s list.

“Adrien sent me this when he told me they started dating.” Lila continued the lie as she let the girl look at the photo closely.

“Adrienne, please don’t listen to her. It is obviously a joke!”

“Oh, I wish it was. Marinette is a nasty manipulative shrew that is only dating Adrien because she wants him to help launch her fashion career. The poor boy doesn’t even realize it.” Lila spoke into Adrienne’s ear.  “I am convinced she rigged it to get 100%, after all, no one else has ever gotten 100%. But poor naive Adrien was so trusting of the app that he just couldn’t help but give it a chance.”

Tears began to stream down the club president’s cheeks.

“Adrien… but he …. but we…” Adrienne tried to articulate as she dropped Lila’s phone. She ran into the bathroom and started sobbing.

The three other girls ran after their club president as Lila picked up her phone. She snagged an Adrien cupcake and took a bite out of it, before casually walking out of the room. Lila was going to make her way to the studio.

Enjoy your gift Hawkmoth. I need to go get that recording.

A window opened letting the light into a dark room. A man in a grayish silver mask and a purple suit stood in a room filled with White butterflies.

“Ah, obsession, The crazy sister of the emotion of Love. The tears and absolute anguish of a heartbroken fan who finds herself separated from the object of her affections. How tragic. It seems Miss Rossi has blessed me with a gift.” Hawkmoth monologued as he opened his hand allowing a white butterfly to land. He infused the white butterfly with his power turning it into an akuma

“Go my Akuma, find the source of that powerful negative emotion and evilize her” The villain exclaimed as he sent out the akuma from his hand and let it fly into Paris.

Adrienne wept on the floor of her bathroom as her friends tried to get her to come out. She was clutching her bag of homemade Adri-knight pins as she cried.

“Adrien… you belong to all of us… not that evil witch…” She sniffled as she let her sorrow take hold. The akuma flew through the small bathroom window and possessed the bag. Adrienne sat up and her face now had a purple butterfly outline over her face.

“Fandoom, I am Hawkmoth. Adrien is someone that cannot be possessed by one individual, he deserves the praise and adoration of all of Paris. I am giving you the ability to expand your influence and power by recruiting more members for your cause. Show him that he deserves better. In exchange, you will deliver to me Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous.”

The red head smiled darkly at the proposal. Adrien was not something that could belong to one person. If Adrien was taken away, then there would be no Adri-knights, and then the club would dissolve. She couldn’t let that happen!

“I accept Hawkmoth. I will show Adrien the love he deserves.”

Adrienne was covered in a purplish black mist transforming her into an akuma.

Chapter Text

“Adrienne, please open the door.” Maggie pleaded. “That Lila girl was clearly trying to make you mad, you shouldn’t listen to her.

They didn’t hear anything from the door. Not even her crying. It had just suddenly stopped.

“Adrienne?”

They hear a hard knock on the door.

The three other girls scramble back.

The door opens revealing something the other Adriknights were not expecting.

Adrienne’s hair that was kept down in braided pigtails was now much fierier and moving upward, and moving like a flame. She had a golden crown on her head with green gemstones in it reminiscent of Adrien’s eye color. Her eyes were red as opposed to their normal blue color. She had a red mask that looked similar to that of a butterfly on her face.  Her fan garb was transformed into intimidating regal armor that was a mix of white and gold. On her chest plate was a heart with the Adriknight logo. (Which consisted of the Letter A and K over top one another and the Long end of the K was a sword, while the downward parts of the A were swords, surrounded by a small shield. She had a white cape with a golden logo of the Adriknight logo on center of it.

On her hip, she had her golden bag which decorated the side of her waist, filled with an infinite number of buttons contained in a small pouch.

“Adrienne? What happened to you?!”

The akuma laughs.

“I am not Adrienne, I am Fandoom! Adrien is not someone who should be used for one person’s gain. We, the Adriknights will stop this, we will grow and take Paris under our crest.” Fandoom exclaimed.

“Adrienne please… you aren’t yourself.” Maggie approached cautiously. The other two girls tried to run, but Fandoom grabbed two buttons from her bag, launched them at the the two runners like ninja stars, the pins began to glow and the two were transformed. They gained a white armor with the Adriknight logo on their chests, protruding out like a button. Their eyes were white, not showing their iris. They had a similar pouch to the one she had on her side.

Fandoom’s fiery hair became slightly larger with the two new additions 

“You two! Spread out and expand out ranks!” She commanded.  “Make sure to grab plenty of skilled fighters to defend our cause, snag a few reporters and bloggers to get our presence known. as well as musicians and artists for the creative side. We want to be diverse in our expansion.”

One of the knights raised their hands.

“What about writers? Should writers be included?”

“I guess, but no one really cares about writers as much as artists.” Fandoom answered with an eyeroll.

Maggie was stunned as she watched her two club mates obey. The two knights grabbed the bags and headed out, keen on obeying their orders.

Fandoom moved to her.

“Join us Maggie. The Adriknights are going to be all over Paris. I am going to bring the club to new heights. Once we are all over Paris, we will be able to give Adrien the best, like all good fan clubs should.”

“Vivienne please stop this. You have gone too far. You are my best friend, you are letting your obsession get the better of you. I want my friend back.”

Fandoom looked at her, shaking her head.

“Maggie, I am doing this for us. No more being pushed aside. No more weird looks from people that don’t understand. Soon Paris will be just like us. We will all be a massive club… no,  a kingdom of people that love the same thing. It will be perfect.”

Maggie took a step back, horrified at what her friend has become.

Fandoom’s fiery hair became bigger once again.

“Seems they already recruited more members. I am already feeling them contribute. I think you should join as well.”

She took a pin from her bag. She shakes her head

“For the Fandoom.”

A bell dings to alert the audience and the host that the show is on commercial. The stage lights dim and the lights over the audience brighten so the crowd couldn’t see Adrien or Sonny that well.

Sonny’s smile eases up and she appears less hyper and more subdued.

“I don’t remember those questions you asked being mentioned at all when I was told about this interview.” Adrien asked, clearly more concerned than he was during the interview.

“Look superstar, we got the okay from Gabriel to ask more personal questions. It cost us a good amount of cash, but considering the gold we are mining from this interview the network will make back its investment.”

“My father approved of this? Even if he did, that still didn’t give you the right to show Marinette on the air without her consent.”

Adrien was clearly not in the mood to deal with this host’s disregard for Marinette.

“It was on the visitor’s form. You know all that paperwork you two signed, that is written consent. It isn’t my fault your girlfriend didn’t read the papers.”

Adrien narrowed his eyes at the reporter, he decided he would deal with her after the interview.

“I am going to go talk with my guest.” Adrien stood up. “If she is upset, then I should apologize to her.

“Hold up. We are back from break in 3 minutes. You don’t exactly have the time to chat.” Sonny exclaimed. “Besides, it seems like she doesn’t want to talk right now. I really don’t get why though; most designers would kill to get that free exposure.”

Adrien looked to where Marinette was standing and noticed she was gone. Adrien could feel his anger at the host boiling.

“I have to go apologize. I will be back after I’m done making sure she is fine.”

Adrien began to walk off the set, Sonny caught his shoulder. 

“Re-lax. You can talk with your little girlfriend after. We still have the other half of the interview. I will have security find her and you can have all the time in the world to talk after. But you are on My time. So be a good model, and do what you are told.”

Adrien shot the Tv host a look that made her let go of his shoulder. It was for a brief moment, but they looked like the sharp eyes of someone ready to fight, almost like a wild cat.

“I’ll be back after I talk with Marinette and not a second before.” Adrien heads off.

“Wait but the interview.” Sonny spoke before noticing the blond ran off stage. She touches her ear piece. “Get security on that damn model. I want him back here yesterday.”

Adrien had taken off, running to try and catch up to Marinette.

Plagg popped out.

“Look at you kid, directly disobeying an adult. You are really growing up.” Plagg commented.

“I need to make sure Marinette is okay. I am use to my feelings being ignored, but she shouldn’t have to deal with that.”

“No one’s feelings should be ignored, especially not yours.” Plagg stated flatly as the two-kept running.

“Marinette please calm down.” The red kwami assured.

“I messed things up! Of course, I had to be bold now of all times! I should have known my lip gloss would show up on his cheek.” Marinette berated herself.

She ran back into the green room, now trying to find a way to fix everything. The interview Adrien was having was going so well, but then it shifted so quick. She was pacing and she felt so guilty.

“Adrien is going to be given so much trouble over this. I don’t want people thinking I claimed him or something! What if he is furious with me? I thought things were going so well, he was saying such sweet things about me and…”

“Marinette!” Adrien called out as he entered the room. He sounded like he sprinted after her. He closed the door and the sound of footsteps ran past.

“Adrien? What are you doing here? The interview is not over yet! Did something happen?’

“Yea, but I really needed to talk to you.” Adrien replied.

Marinette looked down, he probably wanted to clarify how embarrassed he was about what happened. “Adrien… I am really sorry I caused this whole mess.” 

Adrien looked at her with confusion.

“Marinette, this isn’t your fault. That interviewer was getting a bit too invasive. I should be  the one apologizing. I am sorry about all of this Marinette. I didn’t think they would try and drag you into all of this just to get more ratings.” Adrien walked closer to her. “I should have known they would have done something like this.” 

Marinette was surprised that the model was taking the blame, he didn’t do anything wrong.

“I-I-I-t’s not your fault. If anything, you were the one that has it worse. They are making it seem like we are … an item. I can imagine how badly it would impact your life.” Marinette stammered before recovering.

Adrien moved closer to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Badly? Marinette, I wouldn’t be mad about that at all.” Adrien responded, unsure of how on earth having the world think he was dating her would be a bad thing for him. “I was worried about what you thought of the whole thing.”

“Me?” The designer felt her face heat up.

“Yea, when you headed off I assumed you were upset about being on camera. I am not worried at all about what the fans think, most of them will have their own opinions of me that I will never know about them or even if I do, they aren’t about who I am, just what they think I am.” Adrien explained. “Like I said in the interview, your opinion of me does matter. So, I hope you can forgive me for dragging you into all of this.”

“I am not mad at you at all, I am actually really happy that you think so much of me.”

She felt relieved he wasn’t mad at her. The two share a moment of silence as the words hung there.

Marinette smiled at him, but noticed the lip gloss was still on his cheek.

“Hold on.” She spoke before taking a make-up remover wipe out of her bag and wiping his cheek.

“Hopefully now you won’t get any more questions about the that.” She said as her smile made the model’s heart skip a beat. “You should get back out there, you shouldn’t keep the audience waiting. I’ll be here when you’re done, it will take more than some gossip to make me leave. I have your back no matter what happens.”

Adrien couldn’t help but see a faint image of his spotted partner when she said that.

She really is an everyday Ladybug.

Adrien returned her smile, feeling relief that she wasn’t mad. He gave her a quick hug.

“Thank you, Marinette.” He spoke sweetly just before heading off back to the stage.

On the deck of the Couffaine houseboat, Kitty section was taking a break from band practice to try the new band shirts they commissioned Marinette for.

“These shirts really are amazing.” The drummer exclaimed as he wore his XL band T-shirt. “Marinette did an amazing job.”

“Right? I told her she really made an amazing design.” Rose singsonged as she did a twirl in the band shirt.

“Ivan is right, Marinette really killed it with these.” Juleka answered, more subdued but content with the shirt. 

“What do you think Luka? You were the one that suggested she make the design?”

A black-haired teen with teal tips looked at his shirt and smiled.

“Marinette always does good work.” The guitarist answered. “Its too bad she couldn’t join us for practice.”

“Yea, but she is going to that interview with Adrien so I think she is having a good time.” Rose answered.

“She was pretty excited to go, and her new outfit was definitely impressive.” Juleka responded.

“New outfit?” Ivan asked perplexed. The metal fan never really paid much attention to clothes, though everyone’s fashion choices always seemed to blend together, like they were always wearing the same thing every day. 

“Yea, she had the cutest chat noir themed dress with a leather jacket! Hold on, I have a picture.” Rose pulled out her phone to show the drummer.
Luka moved to see the photo, curious of the look. His eyes went wide when he saw her.

“Wow, she looks cute. Almost Myléne level cute.” Ivan complimented.

 Luka thought she looked absolutely stunning, it was amazing how pretty she looked. The guitarist felt a pang in his heart, knowing that she looks that good to impress another guy. 

He smiles softly. He knew how Marinette felt about Adrien, so he can’t blame her for trying to go after him. 

“I am sure Adrien thinks she looks great.”
A sudden clink on the deck made the four teens turn. They looked towards the direction of the sound to see a figure clad in white armor.

“Did you say Adrien?” The mysterious figure asked with a smile on her face.

The guitarist could tell this was not a good sign.

Crap! that boy needs to get on stage in the next 20 seconds, I had the producers run extra commercials to stall for time. Where the hell is security? How did he even sneak past them? The host mentally panicked as she noticed the timer counting down before they were back on the air.

As if answering her prayers Adrien was back in his seat, significantly calmer.

“Oh, good your back. about time. You lucked out.” Sonny forced a smile.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t want to keep the audience waiting.” Adrien responded enjoying the annoyance he had caused her. He glanced back stage to see Marinette back in the spot she was before, reassuring him that she was fine.

The On-air light went on and the show was back on.

“And We’re back!” Sonny greeted as the audience cheered. “Now we are at the part of the show where our viewers submit questions and we ask our lovely guest to answer them. ” 

The first question popped up on the screen.

“If you could change any part of your life, what would it be?”

Adrien thought about it for a second.

“I would say I would change my schedule, I want to have more free time to hang-out with my friends. But I doubt that will happen anytime soon.” Adrien responded.

The crowd got a bit of a laugh at that line.

Sonny went to the next question.

“What is something that you wish you could do really well?”

“I would say the guitar. I wish I could play the guitar. I play the piano, but it would be really cool to be able to carry around the instrument I play.” Adrien responded.

Marinette imagined Adrien being able to play the guitar. She agreed that might be too much for her to handle. He would be too cute playing a guitar with that sweet smile.

Sonny faked her smile but continued to the next question, her smile turned more genuine after being a juicy question.

“What do you look for in a future girlfriend?”  Sonny read the question. “Oh!, now we have something.”

Adrien thought about it for a second.

“I guess if I had to think about it, mainly two things. Kindness and bravery, both are aspects I really want to find in someone. Someone who can sweet and helpful, but also can stand up for the right thing and isn’t afraid to do what she feels is right.”

The crowd clapped at the boy’s answer, it was a respectable answer.

Sonny swiped to the next question, now with a lot more interest.

“I recently got this app called soulmate searcher and when I finished, I noticed you weren’t on my list. I am sure we are meant to be. Is the reason you aren’t on the list is because you don’t have an account?” Sonny read aloud.

Sonny turns to Adrien.

“That is an excellent question. That app has been all over Paris the last few weeks. Tell us Adrien, do you have an account?” Sonny prodded.

Adrien needed to think of a way out of this one, but thankfully he came up with one. Though he might need to pull a bit of a playful cat for it.

“Now where would the fun be if I said if I did or didn’t. Who knows, maybe you can find me on there. If I am on the top of your list, feel free to message me.” Adrien gave a playful wink.

The crowd ‘Oooohs’ at that statement.

Sonny smiled at that.

“Quite the Casanova. Follow up question. Do you believe there is credibility to the app or do you think it’s a cheesy gimmick?”

Adrien pondered this for a moment.

“I think there might be something to it. I know my best friend and his girlfriend are both on it and have high compatibility, so I would say that there is a good chance.”

Sonny nodded she realized it was time to up the ante.

“You know we had a LOT of submissions stating that you were on someone’s list. Why don’t you have a look at some.”

The screen was flooded with different submissions of lists. Most of them had Adrien at the top of the list, and it was clearly photo shop. They sorted through a few of them.

“Ooh, looks like this one is compatible with you and XY, do I smell a love triangle.” Sonny teased.

“Sadly no, I wouldn’t want to ruin XY’s chances at true love. I hope them the best.”

More compatibility lists appeared. The host and Adrien spent a good 10 minutes commenting on each one, Adrien being sure to be funny yet polite with each comment. Sonny on the other hand was a bit more cut throat. The crowd laughing and reacting to the two, mostly positive responses.

“Wow, I guess I am compatible with a lot of people.” Adrien commented, knowing full well that these were fake. “As well as Jagged stone. There is no way I could compete with him.”

Sonny laughed.

“Seems your fans do want you on their list, and it’s a mystery if you do have a list. So let’s say if you did have a list, would your lovely guest be on it?”

Adrien felt himself freeze, this was a question he was not expecting at all.

Sonny noticed the blond tense up, she had him now.

“Where would you put her on the list? Based on the lip gloss mark I saw earlier, I would guess pretty high.” Sonny twisted the dagger.

“Well I um…” Adrien tried to respond but thankfully (or rather unthankfully) there was large noise that sounded from the outside.

The audience looked worried and unsure of what to do.

Sonny, tapped her ear piece.

“What is going on outside. We are in the middle of an interview.” She whispers shouted.

“There seems to be a bunch of people in armor trying to get inside. They are… oh no. They are turning us into them! Help!” The transmission was cut off.

Adrien’s eyes went wide. 

An Akuma!?

“We will be right back after a message from our sponsors.” Sonny stated to the camera, making sure it was turned off.

Kagami was bored.

She was aware that Adrien wouldn’t be in practice because of the interview he was going to, but she didn’t expect to be so bored with the rest of the team.

That wasn’t to say they were bad, but compared to the fencing prodigy they were hardly a warm up. Adrien was the only one that could really give her a challenge.

The fencer considered heading home early, today did not seem like a good day for fencing. As she started to head to the locker room, the sound of the door shattering across the room caught her attention.

The fencer turned to see several figures with white armor. They started flinging these circular pins at her and the other fencers, she quickly parried the one headed her way with her blade. 

“Oh, now this will be interesting.” The prodigy stated with an amused smile.

Lila slipped into the back of the studio. She was amazed at how quickly the akuma took affect. She had been doing her best to avoid those knights that had taken to the streets and began putting pins on everyone in sight. It would not benefit her to be turned into one of those mindless minions right now.

She was able to sneak into the studio thanks to the chaos that was happening outside as security was dealing with the overflow of minions.

“I just need to get Marinette’s bag, get the recording, and get out.” Lila told herself. “It shouldn’t be that hard.”

Chapter Text

The band looked wary of the weird armor wearing individual that somehow climbed aboard the boat.

“Umm… This is a closed practice.” Luka stated, trying to play down the situation. He could tell that there was something clearly off about the individual.

“We are looking for musicians for our cause.” The knight said with a smile.

“Cause? Like to help the environment? Save the whales?” Ivan asked.

“Something far more important than that.” The knight spoke as she moved closer.

“Ending world hunger? Peace on earth?” Rose inquired.

“Adrien Agreste.” The knight swooned. “For there is nothing greater or of more importance then him. Thus, says the queen of the Adriknights.”

The band members exchanged disturbed looks. This girl was either an akuma or controlled by one.

“Adrien is a good guy, but I don’t think that statement is accurate.” Ivan answered.

The girl’s head tilted.

“Let’s fix that.”

The knight threw a pin right at Ivan, but Juleka managed to pull him out of the way.

“I don’t think I want to join your cause.” Juleka answered.

The knight shook her head, she raised her hands, revealing several buttons. Before throwing several at the band.

Luka jumped in front of them and used his guitar to block the three buttons.

“Jul, take Rose and Ivan to go get mom and get out of here. I’ll hold her off.”

“But what about you? You’ll get turned!” His younger sister protested.

“I will be fine, Chat noir and Ladybug will fix it, just go!” Luka shouted with more force than usual. The older teen was worried about his sister and band mates. He was in protective brother mode.

The three teens started running. The knight throws three pins at the fleeing teens but the guitarist managed to use his instrument of choice to block them.

“Quite a brave one. You will be great in our cause.” The girl giggled.

“I think it will take more than one of you to get me to go along with your twisted harmony.”

The girl ponders for a moment.

“How about 10?”

Suddenly 10 more armor clad individuals showed up on the deck. Each one decked in armor similar to the one that first appeared.

Luka gulped. but didn’t try to let on his fears. He grabbed his guitar like a bat and charged at her. Only to get bombarded with pins.

“How is this so difficult?” One of the knights exclaimed.

They had found themselves unable to recruit one rather stubborn fencer.

They had been throwing countless pins at her and the bluish black-haired teen parried and dodged each button. She seemed to be too tough to take care of.

Kagami had been enjoying the change of pace from her rather lackluster practice. She did however not take this as a fun game. These armored fans were clearly the work of some sort of akuma. But if they thought she would simply join their cause, they were severely mistaken.

“Hold her down!” One of the knights called out, several of them began charging at her.

“You’re wide open.” Kagami commented before using her sword to hit the emblem on one of the knights’ chest. The emblem split and the armor shattered, returning the person back to normal.

“Huh? What happened. Where am..” Before the poor guy could process what happened, a pin struck his back, turning him back into one of the knights he was before.

“Oh, so there is a way to beat you. This will be easy then expected.”

“Will it?” a voice that sounded familiar.

Kagami turned to see that the rest of the fencing team had been turned into those knight looking figures.

“You will join our cause Kagami. It is for Adrien and soon all of Paris will know why he is the best.” The team said in unison.

Kagami blinked, she figured out what happened now. She knew Adrien’s fame would cause some issues.

“I assume that interview revealed something they didn’t like, how shallow…” Kagami spoke before getting struck by a pin while her guard was down. “You cheap shot taking Bastards”

Kagami did her best to try and take the pin off her back and resist the change but she was far too late.

Her eyes began to glow.

Marinette knew something was up when she heard the banging on the doors and watched the Host cut to commercial. She quickly looked on the news app to see Nadja, her source of trusted news regarding akuma attacks, reporting on the issue.

‘Don ’ t be Bemused it’s just the news! Paris is overrun with fanatical knights! They want to grow in numbers and are trying to tag innocent civilians in order to recruit more members. I recommend you lock your doors and avoid confrontation with anyone you suspect to be one of these akumatized minions. All we can hope for is that Ladybug and Chat noir are on the case.’

Marinette dashed away to get to a private area in order to transform.

“Sorry you couldn’t enjoy your date Marinette.” Tikki apologized.

“It’s alright, I figured something like this would happen with all of the drama that host was stirring…” Her sentence interrupted when she collided with another girl. Her bag went flying several feet as she landed on her butt. “Sorry I didn’t see… Lila?!” 

Tikki quickly hid from view before she was spotted.

The brunette looked to see Marinette looking at her.

Of course, I would run into her now of all times! Lila mentally cursed. She looked around and noticed the designer’s black bag close by. She jumped for it.

“What are you doing?!” Marinette exclaimed as she got up from the ground. “How did you even get in here?”

“You have something I need to get rid of… Aha!” Lila answered as she pulled out Marinette’s phone. 

Marinette’s eyes went wide.

She is concerned about that now of all times!? Un-fricking-believable! There is an army of evil knights outside of here! What the hell is wrong with her!?

“Are you kidding me? There is an akuma attack right now!” Marinette stated in disbelief.

Lila smiled with little concern about the situation. She had the squeaky designer right where she wanted her.

“Well then you better give me your password quickly or we are both in trouble.” Lila commented.

“You are seriously doing this NOW!?” Marinette exclaimed in anger.

“I would really just give me the password right now if I were you. I am not the one who that akuma is after.” Lila replied, he words implying more then she intended.

“I am not going to give you my…” Marinette paused. “How do you know who the akuma is after?” 

Lila’s smile grew and held far more malevolent intent.

“You really did leave me no choice in the matter. So, I commend you on your efforts. Something I rarely do.” Lila answered.

Marinette didn’t need much else to figure out what Lila had done. This was a new low, even for her.

“Lila, you didn’t…”

“She would have been akumatized anyway, it isn’t like I really did much. You know how crazy fangirls are. You show them some fact that their obsession isn’t into them and then… well you know what’s happening.” Lila interrupted, making an excuse despite not really caring if Marinette knew.

“Holy shit… You are a monster. I can’t tell who is worse, you or Hawkmoth.” Marinette was disgusted that Lila would stoop so low, but not that shocked at all by the liar’s deception. 

“You really shouldn’t be calling me a monster. At least I am not planning on breaking your phone. So just tell me your passcode, I will delete the recording and then we can move on like nothing happened. Then you can go hide and pray that Ladybug saves your ass from the horde of armored fans that want to tear you limb from limb.”

Lila had regained her calm attitude that she had felt she lost earlier today. She felt she held the advantage so her true colors were showing. No one would believe her anyway, it didn’t matter.

Marinette really didn’t have time for this, and Lila could tell her sense of urgency. So, Marinette caved.

Lila smiled as she opened the phone and deleted the recording. She put the phone back in the bag and handed it to Marinette.

“See? Was that so hard? I even left everything else on your phone. Aren’t I sweet?” Lila spoke with a venom and a twisted glee.

Marinette was fuming, but her anger was cut short when they both heard banging on the back doors far behind Lila.

“We must hurry! We will get Adrien!” The calls of the knights could be heard from the closed door.

Marinette looked around and noticed they were standing next to an open janitor’s closet. Marinette decided to utilize this opportunity.

Marinette shoved Lila in there. And closed the door.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

The brunette tried to open the door, but it locked from the outside. The door jiggled as the liar tried to force it open but to no avail.

“Quiet! Stay in there. We will talk after this is over. I am going to get help.” Marinette explained before using all of her strength to kick and break the door knob off.

“You better come back here after you little bitch!” Lila screamed as Marinette left her to rot in the fowl smelling custodian closet.

Marinette ran the other direction to find a safe place to transform.

“That Lila is a truly nasty individual. To think she would go to such lengths just to get ahead.” Tikki spat with disgust. Tikki had met some awful individuals in her eons of life, but Lila would definitely make the list of the worst, at least in this millennium.

“I always knew she was awful, but I never thought she was… well never wanted to believe she was this bad. Thankfully, I still have a backup for later, but I am furious with Lila for causing this mess.”

Marinette was glad she sent Alya that email before she left. At the very least, Alya has it.

“It was good of you to make sure Lila was safe even if she was being awful.” Tikki commented.

“Safe? Oh right. Yea, that’s why I did it.” Marinette stated, pretending that was the main reason she locked Lila in a janitor’s closet.

Adrien had overheard the little conversation that Sonny was having with security and realized that there was an akuma threat. Thanks to the lights dimming because of the commercial break and Sonny to busy arguing with the people over her ear piece, he was able to slip backstage. He found a nearby bathroom and slipped inside, he knew they wouldn’t keep cameras in there.

“Shouldn’t you be checking on your girlfriend.” Plagg commented with a smug smirk.

“I will check on Marinette after I transform, I have to be ready to fight whatever threat is trying to get in here.” Adrien assured.

“So, you admit she is your girlfriend.” Plagg teased.

“Now is not the time for that.”

“Still aren’t denying it.”

“Plagg, Claws out!”

The doors to the main set flung open as dozens of white armored individuals busted in. The Audience was in a frenzy trying to escape. but the knights began throwing pins at them, turning the screaming civilians into loyal Adriknights.

Sonny stopped shouting once she noticed the commotion has stopped. She looked out to the audience to see that each person was sitting quietly in their seats, their eyes glowing white.

The young talk show host felt an eerie chill creep down her spine.

“Why aren’t they attacking?” Sonny spoke audibly.

The lights turned on the stage and she looked to see the audience began chanting.

“Fan-Doom. Fan-doom. Fan-doom. Fan-doom.”

Sonny felt her legs shake as she noticed that there was the sound of someone burning a hole above her.

 She looked up and saw a figure descend gracefully and land in the seat where Adrien had once sat.

“Hi Sonny, Longtime fan, first time on the show.” The fiery haired figure spoke with a cheerful almost innocent tone. It was unsettling. The akuma was all too comfortable with the set up.

“H-HI and you are?” Sonny inquired nervously. She was so scared she felt she might piss herself.

“I am the queen of the Adriknights. You can call me Fandoom.” Fandoom explained. “We are always looking for talented people in our group. Would you like to join?”

Sonny looked at the fiery haired akuma, whose hair seemed to be growing as she talked. Sonny was speechless for what seemed like the first time in years.

“We are currently 20,000 strong and growing fast. We hope to have all of Paris join in by nightfall. It would really help our cause if we used your show to broadcast our message. So, will you join us?”

“I-I-if I say no?”

Fandoom blinked, then she began laughing, the entire audience of glowing eyed knights laughed.

 “Oh Sonny. It’s funny that you think you have a choice in the matter.”

Marinette had recorded her little conversation with Lila the entire time she was forced to help Lila. Lila had threatened to make Adrien’s compatibility list public. That alone was enough to show how much of sociopath Lila was.

That alone was enough to infuriate Nino, everything else in that little recording only added fuel to the fire.

The recording wasn’t perfect, there were long gaps almost minutes wide of nothing, but then it would suddenly catch something knew. Alya would know what parts to move past to avoid the silences and get to the talking.

Marinette would randomly mention something that Lila bragged about, like knowing Steven Spielberg, or how she was partying with Prince Ali, asking if it was real or not.

Lila would laugh and state it wasn’t. After about 10 or so dismissals Lila admitted that all of them were lies. She went into detail of how she studied the social media of each of her new classmates, knowing the exact words they would want to hear. She was gloating about her blatant manipulation.

“I thought it would be tougher to win them over, but those idiots hung on my every word without so much as a question. They were so naive and trusting, it was too easy.”

Lila bad mouthed every single one of them. 

“Even your best friend was a stupid brat. She claims to be a journalist but she has the investigative prowess of a dead fish. Her idiot boyfriend was even EASIER to manipulate. With friends like them, Adrien is practically defenseless.” Lila mocked.

Alya could swear she saw the steam coming out of Nino’s ears.

“Do you at least care about Adrien?” Marinette asked, her tone trying to sound calm but failing.

“Adrien? He is a pretty face and he is just so stupidly naive. He is practically the perfect boyfriend. I could wrap him around my finger. Not to mention he is uber rich, he could make my lies real with that kind of cash. He is the best person for me to be with. So, I would say I do care about him, more than the rest of you or the rest of those brainless monkeys… Now make sure you fill out these answers to the letter. To the letter. All of your answers have to be exact. I want to reach 100%. Don’t try to cheat me by messing up once.”

Alya stopped the recording.

“Now you see why I am so mad.” Alya stated as she could see the anger on her boyfriend’s face.

“She was playing all of us. How the hell did we not notice any of this? Are we really that stupid!” Nino felt ashamed.

Alya patted his shoulder.

“We owe Marinette a huge apology, I owe her a massive one. She was telling me that Lila was a horrible person and... I blamed it on jealousy.” Alya spoke, her voice cracking. “I asked her for proof? All because I didn’t want to jump the gun again. What kind of friend does that? Friends are supposed to believe each other no matter what! Even if she didn’t give me evidence, Lila didn’t either. I should have believed my best friend first, or at least had her back.”

Nino hugged her. Helping the ladyblogger calm down.

“We all got messed with, but now we aren’t getting messed with anymore.” Nino stated. “Make sure that recording is backed up.”

“I saved it to my Laptop before I came over.” Alya assured.

“Good, we’re gonna talk with Adrien and Marinette about this. They both knew about the shady stuff with Lila, so we need to know what else she has been hiding.” Nino answered. 

Alya nodded.

“Then after that, we are exposing that two-faced bitch. I don’t want another person getting fooled by her.”

Nino smiled at his fired-up girlfriend.

He turned his attention to the TV for a moment and noticed something rather unusual with the interview. Adrien was no longer being interviewed. It was a strange fire haired akuma and Sonny was smiling creepily and brandishing white armor and her eyes glowing white eyes.

“So Fandoom. I am so glad you could come on to the show. Tell me and the adoring public, is there anything that you want to tell Paris.” Sonny asked with a giddy tone.

Fandoom smiled.

“Two things. First, we will soon find Adrien and have him all for ourselves.” Fandoom decreed, causing the audience to cheer with absolute joy. Fandoom waited for the audience to calm down.

“Then, we will get rid of the only one standing between us and Happiness with Adrien, Marinette Dupain Cheng.” 

“So, says the queen! So, says the queen! Long live Fandoom! Long live the Adri-knights! Long Live Adrien!” The crowd of Adriknights cheered.

Both teens paused as they stared at the TV in shock.

“That is definitely not good” Nino clearly understated.

The two would confront Lila later, but right now they needed to hurry. They ran out to go to that studio. Marinette and Adrien were both in serious danger, and they needed to save their friends.

Chapter Text

Marinette was not a fan of what she heard at all.

She heard Fandoom’s speech about tracking down her and Adrien. Marinette was convinced of one thing, Fandoom was crazy possessive and Lila really did try to make her Akuma bait.

Locking her in a closet was too nice. Marinette muttered as she had to dive to hide from some wandering minions.

She couldn’t seem to catch a break in finding a safe hiding place to transform. 

The Adri-knights as they referred to themselves have practically taken over the studio.

Thankfully, it seemed that most of them were spread out in the city. Over 20,000 of them in one spot would be WAY too much for her. But there were still dozens of them now backstage.

“Marinette, look.” Tikki whispered.

The red Kwami pointed to a bathroom. That would be the perfect place to change! She just needed to sneak past two of them and she was in the clear.

Marinette carefully Tiptoed behind two of the armored individuals who happened to be talking about what they thought was Adrien’s favorite flavor of Macaroons. One of them believed it was strawberry.

Strawberry?… and they called themselves fans of Adrien?! Seems that the process of becoming an Adri-knight is not very picky. Its Passion fruit you uncultured… not now Marinette. Marinette told herself, she knew she needed to focus.

As she approached the door, her heart sank when two knights opened the door.

“Oh no.”

The knights paused.

“Its her… ITS HER!” They screamed.

Suddenly the Adri-knights from before turned around looking right at her.

“Marinette Dupain Cheng!” The knights spoke in unison as they approached.

Marinette started running the other direction.

She noticed that that despite their armor, they were moving pretty fast. She wasn’t sure what they had planned, but whatever it was it wasn’t good.

As she was running she noticed four more knights heading her way.

Im trapped! Damn it, I might need to transform to get out of this. Im sorry Master fu.

“Tikki. Spots..” Marinette started to say, until she noticed something shift.

The knights that were charging at her were swatted into a wall by what appeared to be a metal staff.

“And the hero arrives to save the princess.” A familiar cat hero banters.

“Chat noir!” Marinette exclaimed in relief. She would forgive that cheesy line.

“Get behind me, we have more company coming.”

 Chat noir got into a stance prepared to fight.

The four knights charging from the other side notice the cat hero and try to reach into their bags, but the black cat was far too quick, he knocked them to the side with ease.

“Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

Chat noir picked her up bridal style. 

“By the way, may I say, you look Meow-varlous. You are absolutely Cat-tivating.”

Marinette remembered she was wearing a chat noir themed outfit and felt her face flush. If this cat knew she was ladybug, he would probably die of delight. Right now, she felt almost as red as when Adrien reacted.

“You don’t need to carry me. I am fine.” Marinette pointed out trying to get the color to leave her cheeks.

“Yes, you are.” Chat noir purred. Before realizing that now was not the time to be flirting with Marinette. “But more importantly. I am faster and this place won’t be peaceful for long.” 

“Fair point…” Marinette conceded, also deciding to ignore that flirtation, as he seemed to snap himself out of it.

“Also why would I turn down the chance to carry a cute girl?” The cat teased.

Nevermind.

“Easy there tom cat, what would Ladybug say if she heard you flirting with me.”

“That I am a sucker for pretty girls with blue eyes. Plus, she would probably agree that you are cute.”

“Focus!” Marinette puffed her cheeks.

“She would also say that too. You two really would get along well.” Chat noir commented, he sounded quite sincere and sweet.  Deep down he would like the two girls that were dear to him to get along.

“Maybe we would.” Marinette smiled. “We both have to deal with your Cat-astrophic puns.”

Chat noir laughed at her comment, using all of his bravado to hide his heart beat that was pounding like a drum.

“Master this does not sound good.” a floating turtle creature stated as he pointed to the tv.

The old man in the red shirt looked to the TV and frowned. He had been watching the interview and was well aware that Marinette and Adrien were both at that studio.

“I believe you are right Wayzz.” The old man answered as he pondered what to do.

He switched to the news to get a better grasp of the situation. Thousands of Parisians are getting turned into these weird knights. Fu would not normally bat an eye at this, similar situations have happened before, but not with such a powerful akuma personally targeting their civilian forms. This would make it very difficult and near impossible for her to get to him should she need more allies. 

He went to the window, to contemplate whether he should wait for Ladybug to find him or act on his own.

This was something he would need to decide, go out to find Marinette and risk the potential of getting captured and have Hawkmoth find out about the other miraculous. Or stay calm and wait for a call from Ladybug? Would she be able to call? Or would those minions eventually break into his current hideaway and try to recruit him for their cause. Could he risk being controlled by an akuma like that? Especially with Hawkmoth knowing who he was and what he looked like?

He watched out the window and noticed two familiar teens not wearing armor sneaking across the street, perhaps there was a third option that he hadn’t considered.

Chat noir managed to get the two of them to the green room. He put her down and scoped it out. Thankfully It was safe.

“Clear.”

The two teens went in and closed the door behind them, locking it.

“Okay, you will be safe in here.” the black cat stated.

“Thank you chat noir.”

“So tell me, those knights really seemed keen on capturing you, but they weren’t tossing those buttons at you. Why are they trying to catch you, but not recruit you?” Chat noir inquired.

Marinette noticed that when they were chasing her, she had seen those knights capture a few people by flinging those pins at them, but not one of them even attempted to do so until Chat noir showed up. It didn’t make sense, until she remembered earlier when she was ‘talking’ with Lila.

I am not the one the akuma is after

“I think the person akumatized might not like me.”

Chat noir looked perplexed.

“And who could possibly not love you princess?”

“It’s only a theory, but I know this girl was super angry at me earlier today, and she is a manipulative liar.”

Chat noir nodded, the blond cat could guess who she was referring to. So, Lila was the akuma? No, that doesn’t add up, Lila may like him, but she didn’t seem obsessive over him like this akuma. At least, not in this way.

“So, your saying this girl is the akuma?”

“No, but I think that girl pushed another girl to turn into the akuma. I ran into the first girl earlier. I don’t know all the details, but… I have a theory… Have you heard of soulmate searcher?” 

The blond hero felt his memory flashback to earlier that day when he saw Lila ‘Delete’ the list she had. He could feel his rage boiling. He knew deep down it wasn’t real, but he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“I am going to guess that this liar of yours used that app to cause another person to get akumatized?”

“That’s my theory.”

Lila was not a nice person, but how dare she get someone else akumatized to try and hurt someone he loved. Chat noir was livid. 

“So, is this person you mentioned, the Liar, is she in this building?”

“Yes, I locked her in a closet to keep her from getting taken by the minions. At least thats part of the reason.” Marinette confessed. 

Chat noir felt his anger melt a bit as he heard that last part, Marinette locked her in a closet, thats pretty funny. Lila deserved worse, but the closet was a nice start.

“That will keep that person fine for now, so I will fetch her later after the akuma attack.” Chat noir answered with an amused smile. “If I remember.”

Marinette felt her mood lighten up thinking about Lila struggling in the closet, it did help ease the tension of the situation.

“As for what you mentioned earlier. I am sure Ladybug will want to hear about this. Thank you for your help princess. I have to go out and help my lady deal with this akuma, stay here and barricade the door. You should be safe until we handle things.” Chat noir answered, his tone more serious and calmer now focused on the task at hand.

Chat noir began making his way to the door.

“Wait.” Marinette called out, stopping the blond in his tracks.

“Look princess, as much as I would love to stay and guard you, Ladybug will need help fighting that akuma, I promise I’ll…”

“Adrien is out there.”

Chat noir stopped his flirty quip.

“Those crazy knights are after him too. Please, find him!” Marinette pleaded.

Chat noir smiled softly.

“The model, right?” Chat noir pretended to guess. It figures the akuma was after him as well. The akuma was a fan of his after all.

“Yes, he invited me here. We got separated when they started attacking the studio.” Marinette informed him. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.”

“I ran into him earlier. Don’t worry, I got him in a place where they won’t get to him.” Chat noir assured with a grin. He was glad he was able to give her some good news.

“Thank you.”

Marinette smiled with relief at the black cat.

S*** you are making her fall in love with Chat noir again you idiot! Heroes can’t date civilians, that would be crazy irresponsible! Not to mention that Fiasco with what happened when she confessed to you the first time. Of course, you were flirting with her earlier, damn it Adrien, keep your mouth shut about how wonderful she looks and is and try to say something that will make her think your non-chat self is cool.

“Adrien was trying to find you. It took me a bit to convince him to stay hidden.” Chat noir told her. “He was really worried about you.”

Marinette felt her face heat up.

“He.. He was?”

“He looked like he was ready to fight me in order to go and find you. I swore that I would find you and make sure you were safe, not that I wouldn’t have done it anyway. Though I admit, I was not expecting that from a model. He must really care about you.” Chat noir explained, not exactly lying because that is how he would act if he wasn’t chat noir.

Nailed it. The cat mentally high five himself.

“Y-You think?” Marinette asked innocently, she felt herself getting giddy over that thought.

“I would bet my 9 lives on it.” Chat noir bolstered. “But enough about that, I should get out there. Ladybug is likely out there kicking akuma butt and she will need her cat to help her out.”

“Stay safe Marinette.” Chat noir gave a wink before heading out of the room. Leaving the designer blushing over the words. 

Once alone, the red Kwami popped out.

“Seems you have two blonds that want your attention.” Tikki teased.

“Not the time Tikki!”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“Tikki! Spots on!”

Fandoom sat in the leather chair as if it were her throne. There was a commercial break. She needed to focus on locating Adrien and that nasty witch that was standing in her way. She knows that they are both in here, somewhere.

She closed her eyes and she could see tens of thousands of different perspectives. She could see what each one of her Adriknights could see. They were connected to her, if she focused she could see what they saw, but only when she was trying to. While she can see the conversations of her copies, one of the them was having a discussion about Adrien’s favorite fruit flavor. She needed to correct that.

“Its Passion fruit!” She mentally messaged to all of them. “Adrien’s favorite fruit flavor is Passion fruit!”

Giving a broad mission and message to all of them was easy, they generally listened to her statements and commands. She can order groups for certain tasks, but if she had specific instructions she needed to tell them one at a time.

ITS HER!

ITS HER!!

Fandoom squinted in pain, she was hearing it from multiple of her knights, she had to find which ones though, that was the problem. She had to sort one at a time when trying to see what they see, the number kept on growing. Thats the problem with large collectives, even if they are under one cause, sometimes things happen and most of the others don’t notice. She narrowed her view to those that were around the studio. She had about 50 or so here, the rest were on the streets recruiting more people to her cause. She made sure to have 100 hundred surrounding the place, making sure that the two didn’t try to leave.

Some of them had been brushed aside. No one should be able to do that? She thought to herself. 

She was getting frustrated. Where was Adrien? She knows he didn’t leave the building, she has more than enough forces to ensure that won’t happen. He must be somewhere in that building. Same for that pesky Adrien thief, she could have sworn she heard some of her knights mention they spotted her but then when she went to check, nothing.

They can’t have gotten far. there is no way in or out without my notice. Soon, there will be nowhere in Paris left to hide. Soon we will have Adrien. and that Marinette girl will… well burning witches is old fashion, flaming Anti’s is the new thing. Fandoom thought gleefully as her hand was engulfed in red flames.

A purple outline appeared over her face causing her turn off the flames.

“Fandoom, your numbers have grown wonderfully, you should have more than enough forces to overwhelm Ladybug and Chat noir. Now locate their miraculous.” Hawkmoth spoke in her head

Fandoom opened her eyes.

“I am trying to find Adrien! Your jewelry can wait till later. I am focused on something more valuable than those things.” Fandoom responded

“The boy can wait, you will have him soon enough, Chat noir and Ladybug are the only ones that are a threat to you and him being together.” Hawkmoth explained.

“Hmmm. having superpowers bodyguards would be great for the cause. Adrien is a known Ladybug fan, he might be accepting of us if I- WE bring him Ladybug.” Fandoom cheered. “We will get Ladybug and chat noir!”

“…Sure… just make sure to get me the miraculous.” Hawkmoth responded. He felt exhausted talking with the fiery haired akuma.

Hawkmoth turned off communication to sigh deeply.

The things I put up with. Sure, she is one of my most powerful akuma to date, but she is so transfixed on my son that she is failing to notice the critical issue of Ladybug and chat noir, who are likely to arrive. They must be somewhere, but he can’t pinpoint it, he only knows their fighting. If only he could go in deeper and...

His train of thought was interrupted when Nathalie entered.

“We have a problem sir.”

“Nathalie, I am in the process of getting the miraculous, what could be so important?”

“They just broke down the front gate.” the dark blue haired assistant answered.

Hawkmoth paused. He realized he may have made an error in his choice of Akuma. He had the mansion put on lockdown. Hopefully Fandoom would focus on getting the miraculous before her minions get to him.

“GHHH!” Lila rammed against the door but it only sent her backward making her butt land in the mop bucket, which was filled with nasty mop water.

“Gross!” She screeched. It seeped into her pants and made her feel soggy and gross, and she was sure that water had Not been emptied for a while.

She was going stir crazy. Marinette was going to pay for locking her in here. If she hadn’t burned through her battery life while at that lame fangirls party, she would have messaged for help, or at least sent out that compatibility list to really get that Akuma pissed off so it would rip apart that wannabe designer.

Lila struggled and just barely managed to get out of the bucket. She was going to pay for her dry cleaning, and so much more.

“When I get out of this stupid Fucking closet, I am going to make sure that bitch wishes she had ever existed.” Lila swore.

If only she knew how exactly to get out of this place. She hated being trapped like this. She hated not being so helpless, she hated that stupid designer.

Just you wait Marinette, when I get out of here, I will make your life hell. You better hope that akuma gets to you first. Lila mentally screeched.

“Did you hear something?” A voice called out.

Lila cupped her mouth over her lips. She did not want to deal with those knights right now.

“Must have been nothing.” The other one said before walking past the door.

She waited silently as she heard their footsteps get quieter and quieter.

Lila took a sigh of relief.

“Okay Lila, now how to get out of this stupid closet.” Lila asked herself.

“I know that voice.” a serious and cold voice spoke.

Suddenly Lila felt herself go pale. The trapped teen slowly went to go peek through the key hole to see who was talking. When a sharp fencing foil pierced the door! Lila had just barely avoid getting foil through her head. 

The foil was retracted and Lila could see the figure who tried to shish-kabob her and vice versa. The knight was not happy to see her at all.

“You!” The voice spoke with her eyes glowing and her blade ready to go again.

Lila realized who exactly it was, it was the girl that was in the photo in Adrien’s room, the one that tried to kill her when under the influence of hawkmoth, Kagami. Lila knew she preferred being trapped in the bucket.

“We may have needed to think this through.” Alya stated as she and Nino hid in a mostly empty dumpster.

“To be fair, we did not expect Paris swarming with these freaks.” Nino responded.

“How are we going to get to the studio to save Mari and Adrien if we can’t go ten feet without having to deal with those knights?” Alya questioned as she tried to figure out a solution.

“Maybe we will luck out and run into Ladybug who will have a miraculous or two we can borrow.” Nino said optimistically.

“Let’s assume that we don’t have that as an option.”

Suddenly they heard a knock on the dumpster.

“S*** the found us.” Nino whisper screamed.”

Alya shushed her boyfriend in a panic.

“Look, maybe they just banged into the dumpster, if they don’t try to open it in the next few seconds, let’s take a look.” Alya advised.

“Okay, I’ll take a quick peek when you tell me too.”

The two teens waited their fists ready in case someone opened the dumpster, but after a minute, it seemed that there was no one outside.

“Okay, I will peak.”

Nino slowly opened the lid and noticed no one outside.

“I think we are clear.” Nino answered.

The two exit the dumpster and Alya notices two small yet familiar looking black cases at their feet. A smile appearing on her face.

“I think we may have lucked out after all.”

Chapter Text

Chat noir made a quick sweep around the back. He easily avoided Adri-knights that were on guard. They seemed to be discussing something and were not as attentive as earlier. The cat hero managed to get himself to the lighting stage above to get an overview of everything. He could see at least an audience full of knights watching the interview stage and several dozen backstage, he needed to focus on finding the main baddie. From above he managed to get a look at what appeared to be the Akuma sitting in the chair. 

“Flaming hair, a crown, looks like she is in charge. Yup, that is definitely the akuma.” Chat noir commented to himself as he used his staff to zoom in and take a picture. He sent it to Ladybug, hopefully she will respond to his message.

‘Found the akuma. Seems like she has a fiery temper, lol. What ’ s the plan? ’

As reckless as he is, even he knew that marching on stage to confront an akuma with dozens of minions surrounding him that could all turn him into one of them was not a good idea. 

I can’t risk getting captured, it isn’t just my life on here. If they capture me, they will find out where Marinette is. I can’t risk her life.

He noticed the lights were beginning to shift and moved to a darker section of the stage to avoid detection. Seems like she was going back on the air, he better listen in.

Ladybug left the green room. She made her way past several distracted knights and realized a crucial factor. She was lost. All the twists and turns that Chat Noir did to get her to the room had made her forget which way to get to the main stage. Why couldn’t he have taken her to the other green room she knew about?

She took a calming breathe and decided it shouldn’t be a big deal, she would have to find the main stage eventually. In the meantime, she needed to focus.

Chat noir had mentioned that Adrien was somewhere safe, so at least she won’t have to worry about finding him for the moment.

After this is over, I will make sure Adrien is okay. I feel so bad that this crazy akuma is causing him so much grief. I ’ ll be sure to let him know I was safe the whole time… though I should probably not talk about Chat Noir too much. I wouldn’t want him to think I am into the cat hero… which my outfit does not really help my case now.

Ladybug moved about and found herself back where she had tried running to hide earlier. The closet where Lila was. She happened to notice an Adri-knight glaring at the locked door.

She felt her yo-yo buzz. She would need to check the message later.

She decided to get a closer look.

Lila felt herself stare into an abyss of fear as the Adri-knight started at her.

Her blade thrusted into the door several more times, Making the hole for Kagami to see much larger than before. The brunette could see the glowing eyed girl’s full expression, and it was chilling.

“Kagami… why don’t we talk about this, we are both rational people.” Lila pleaded.

The fencer looked at the terrified Lila, her face still filled with anger.

“Recruiting you to the cause would be a waste of space. You are vile and hold no interest in anyone but yourself. But letting you keep poisoning the world with you lies and manipulative tendencies is not an option either.”

Lila took a step back and her foot stepped into the mop bucket, she fell backwards and the bucket was flung upwards, spilling the contents on her head and the bucket smacking her in the face, leaving her forehead bruised and her hair and face wet and soaked with mop water.

“Ow!” She cried out before spitting out brown water.

“Ew! it got in my mouth!” She spat in disgust. Her hair sopping wet with the gross bucket water.

Kagami let out an amused chuckle.

“Don’t laugh at me you mindless suit or armor!” Lila shrieked.

“I like laughing at jokes. And you are the biggest one I know.”

Lila felt her face burn in embarrassment and rage. She almost wished she could be shish kababed now to avoid the shame and the swelling on her forehead that made it seem like she was growing a horn.

Kagami pulled back her arm, ready to punch through the door to get to the liar that laid helpless in the closet, when a yo-yo wrapped around her waist and pulled her away. making her lose her footing and falling to the ground.

The knight looked up to see the spotted heroine of Paris ready to fight.

“Ladybug? You would dare stop me?” Kagami questioned with a scowl.

“I really don’t want to have to do this, but I can’t let you recruit anymore knights.” Ladybug answered.

“Ladybug! Oh, thank goodness! Save me from this psycho knight!” Lila cried out for help.

Ladybug was already reluctant to do this, and Lila was only adding more reasons not to help.

“I wasn’t planning on recruiting her.”

Ladybug recalls her yo-yo and gets into a fighting stance, Kagami grabs her saber and gets into one of her favored fencing positions. She didn’t bother asking what Kagami was planning on doing with because if she did, she might be tempted to let her do it.

The two lock eyes and charge at one another.

Fandoom kept her eyes closed, she was searching for the heroes of Paris. They must have heard of her Adri-knights by now. Their group was growing fast, yet there was no sign of the heroes approaching the studio.

Were they still not recognized? That thought burrowed into Fandoom’s mind. They needed something big! Something spectacular, something to show Paris that they were serious. To show Paris how much Adrien meant to them. Then an idea struck. The most wonderful idea.

“Put us back on the air!” Fandoom commanded.

The knight handling the camera put them back on tv.

“And we are back!” the controlled tv host exclaimed. “I am back with Fandoom, queen of the Adri-knights and she has an important announcement for all of Paris.

Fandoom smiled.

“I want to address the people of Paris and announce the union of our group with our sole fixation, our idol, our reason for being, Adrien Agreste.” Fandom squeals.

The audience cheers.

“It will all be happening tonight at midnight, Live from this studio! We will be setting up, live music, photographers, artists of all kinds, wonderful decorations, and delicious food. All Adri-knights are required to watch and assist in the wed-Union. And afterward we will have a bonfire to celebrate, we will use the Anti-Adriknight scum that tried to keep our Adrien from us.” Fandoom announce Eerily casually.

The audience was cheering at the announcement and Fandoom was appreciating the joy she had from the announcement.

“Thank you, and may Adrien’s smile bless us all.”

That should get Ladybug and chat noir’s attention. I will capture them as they have to come and take the bait. Ooh! I can maybe have them officiate the wedding. That would be wonderful, I can see it now. Fandoom felt herself get the fuzzies as she thought that. Dreams really do come true.

Did she just say she was going to burn Marinette alive!? That akuma is clearly even more nuts then I thought!

Chat noir was 100% certain he could not let himself get captured. If he did, they would find out Marinette’s location and she was going to be used for kindling, and sure he did think Marinette looked hot, but not like that!

He mentally slapped himself for thinking of that line, this was very serious. He should get back to her, get her out of the building and hide her away somewhere far from that pyro-mantic fan of his.

He looked around and began making his way down to what he believed was a safe area back stage. He needed to find Ladybug and they needed a plan of how to get Marinette out of here.

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed a pin just miss him. He turned to see a adri-knight with teal tipped hair and a guitar on his back along. The hero’s eyes widen in shock as he saw the glowing eyes of the guitarist.

“Luka?” 

Three more buttons came at him and he just barely dodged. He looked to see three other Adri-knights show up behind Luka. He recognized the three other members of Kitty section. 

“Rose? Juleka? Ivan? They got all of you?” Chat noir was mortified.

“Hold him down, then we will get him to join us.” Luka commanded.

The band mates each began wielding their instrument of choice, Juleka holding her bass guitar like a bat, reminiscent of how her older brother was holding his guitar. Rose was holding a mircrophone by the wire and spinning it like a grappling hook.  Ivan was spinning his drumsticks in his hands and stops to point menacingly at the cat.

“Come on! Are you seriously okay with all of this?! You do know that she wants to fry Marinette right? “

“What?!” Luka called out. his eyes flashing and his grip loosening, there was weakness. Maybe he could help them fight it if he can find a way to reach their hearts.

The other three members charged at Chat noir.

The large drummer tried to Hammer down his fists but he was able to dodge.

“Ivan, who helped you find a gift Myléne for your 6-month anniversary?” 

“M-Marinette.” Ivan stopped as his eyes began flickering. He was processing what was just said to him.

Juleka and Rose tried to double team him, but he avoided Juleka’s Bass and slicked behind the blonde singer.

“Rose, who is the girl that designed the sick costumes and T-shirts for your band?” 

“Mari.” Rose answered, now her eyes flickering. She was left in a state similar to Ivan.

Juleka was trying to take swings at hero as he moved to dodge the Bass again. Chat noir took a moment to appreciate the form, she should take up baseball or tennis.

“Juleka, who is the one that scheduled those photos in the park when Chloé locked you in the bathroom on picture day?” 

Juleka froze as she heard that.

“Marinette…” Her eyes began flickering as she processed the hero’s words.

“Thats right, Marinette is your friend. Don’t try to hurt her. This cause isn’t good and it isn’t for you. Fight it!”

The three band members were statues as their eyes continued flickering, it seems they were left unsure of what to do.

However, Luka managed to get his eyes stable and charged at him, now wielding his guitar like a club.

Chat noir blocked the on-coming attack with his baton, which he extended to staff length.

“You are trying to distract us.” Luka hissed. “We have our mission, we have to prepare for the union.”

“Come on Luka, you need to fight it.”

The two’s weapons clashed with one another. Luka was giving it his all. Chat noir was trying not to hurt the musician.

“Remember Marinette.” 

Chat noir dodged a swipe from the guitar.

“Remember the sweet girl that you were ice skating with, the girl that helped you design those sick outfits for your band, the girl who spent hours listening to your songs and gave nothing but support and encouragement.” He listed between clashes. Chat noir found himself being pushed back against a wall.

Luka lifted the guitar over his head ready to smash it down on Chat noir’s skull.

“Don’t you…. don’t you … love her?” 

Luka felt his eyes flicker. He dropped his guitar and held his head. 

“AHHH!!!” Luka screamed.

Kagami charged at Ladybug with her foil in hand once again.

The two had been fighting for several minutes and neither was able to gain the upper hand. Kagami was always a tough opponent, when she was akumatized, the girl was able to outmatch her when she didn’t have chat noir. Thankfully, Marinette was much more accustomed to the fencer’s style and has more experience than before. She knows directly fighting Kagami was a no go.

I am going to need to trip her up. Ladybug contemplated as she looked for something to give her the edge.

“Dont resist Ladybug, once I defeat you, you will join our cause. Adrien will be all ours.” Kagami spoke, her words seeming more rehearsed then her previous dialogue. It was clear to Marinette that this was the akuma’s influencing her.

“So, you are okay sharing Adrien with thousands of people. Is he really yours then?” Ladybug pointed out.

Kagami didn’t flinch.

“I don’t hesitate, you won’t be able to distract me with your words.” Kagami retorted.

“I just never figured you for the quitting type, submitting to someone else, settling on being one of thousands. That doesn’t sound like the Kagami I know. The one I know is bold and determined, the one that matched Adrien’s fencing skill. Are you really okay with this?”

Kagami’s eyes flickered. Ladybug was making valid points, this was something against her code.

“Are you really okay with forcing Adrien to love you? The Kagami I know would fight fairly and do her best to win, not cheat to get what she wants.”

Kagami froze, her eyes flickering. Her hands going to her head as she screamed.

“GET THIS OFF ME!!!!” Kagami screamed as one hand touched the Adriknight emblem on her chest.

The heroine took this as her chance, following Kagami’s words, she struck the emblem with her yo-yo, watching as it shattered.

The glow in Kagami’s eyes faded and the armor vanished, leaving Kagami in her fencing uniform.

“Huh? What… where…”

Ladybug smiled in relief.

“Glad your back.” The hero stated as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

“What happened? One minute I am fighting knights in the gymnasium and the next minute I am here.” Kagami coherently stated.

“You got turned into an Adri-knight. Do you remember anything while you were under their control?” 

Kagami thought for a moment, trying to remember what she was doing before her eyes went wide.

“Adrien! That crazy akuma wants to Marry him or something!” Kagami exclaimed. “I can’t let that happened, she is crazy!”

Kagami felt another startling realization hit her.

“Oh no! Marinette! She is in even more danger! Both of my friends are in danger!”

“Calm down, we won’t let that happen. Chat noir told me that Adrien and Marinette are both hiding somewhere safe.” Ladybug assured. She felt happy hearing Kagami worry about her as well.

The fencer sighed in relief.

“Listen, I am in need of your help.” Ladybug whispered.

“What do you need me to do?” Kagami spoke with her usual confidence.

“I need you to locate Adrien, you will be safer if you find him and I am sure both of you will be able to handle the minions together until Chat noir and I solve this issue.” Ladybug stated.

The heroine didn’t exactly like the idea, since she was trusting a civilian to fight some superpower knights, but Kagami would be the best person to send to find Adrien, she knows how protective Kagami is over Adrien and she is a competent combatant. Ladybug was entrusting her with Adrien’s safety something she knows would be for the best. Though in the back of her mind, she was a tiny bit jealous, but now was not the time to dwell on stuff like this.

Kagami nodded.

“You can count on me. Also, the minions aren’t invincible, they turn back to normal if you break the emblem on their chest. I figured that out earlier before they caught me.”

That explains why you turned back to normal so quickly. I guess there is a weak point to this akuma. Ladybug processed, her smile growing at the information, now she had a way to stop these metal minions.

“I’ll also make sure to find Marinette. She is also a target of the …”

“She is safe.” Ladybug assured. “The knights won’t find her, I guarantee it. Focus on Saving Adrien.”

Kagami nodded in understanding.

“You have my confidence that you will fix this.” Kagami bowed before turning away.

Kagami went off to go and find Adrien. Ladybug proceeded to use her yo-yo to contact chat noir to inform him of this tidbit of information.

“Ummm, Ladybug? Could you help me?”

Ladybug sent the message out to her partner and walked over to the closet. The door was still locked but there was a hole the size of a baseball that allowed her to see Lila.

Ladybug looked around and noticed a taped flier nearby. She grabbed the flier and used it to cover the hole.

“There, the Adri-knights won’t know anyone is in here so long as you don’t make any noise. You will be safe in there.” Ladybug smiled, knowing that Lila couldn’t see the smirk she had on her face.

As she left, she could almost hear Lila blowing a gasket.

The musician’s wails of agony were calling attention backstage. He was fighting the conflicting wavelength of the Fandoom and it was causing him pain. The cat hero covered the musician’s mouth and used his staff to quickly move up to the lighting shelf he was on before.

The cat could see he was clearly in pain, he was trying so hard to break free.

“Stop shouting Luka, close your eyes and focus. Fight the…” Chat noir was interrupted by his baton buzzing.

He pulls up to notice a text from Ladybug.

Break the crest, that frees them. And her signature with a ladybug emoji. He loved seeing her messages.

“My lady, she already figured it out. I expect nothing less.”  He swooned.

Chat noir breaks the crest on Luka’s chest and the armor around him dissipates. His eyes return to their normal blue. The cat was relieved he stoped screaming.

“You okay?”

The musician took a moment to adjust.

“What… where am I?” Luka questioned.

“Easy there, you were a knight, now you are a bard again.” Chat noir joked with his catty charm.

Luka felt his memories flooding back.

“Marinette! That crazy akuma was going to try and burn Marinette alive! I have to go and save her before she gets…”

Chat noir places his hands on his shoulders.

“Good, we are on the same page.” 

Luka stopped speaking and looked to the cat hero.

“Marinette is in the green room in the west section of the studio. Sneak over there and avoid any guards that come your way. If you do, break the crest on their chests. I am trusting you not to get captured again, if you get captured again, Marinette is done for. I need you to get her as far away from this place as possible.”

Luka nodded, understanding of the situation, but before he said anything chat noir spoke again as reading his mind.

“Don’t worry about Adrien, he is safe, I can assure that. Focus on protecting Marinette.”

Luka’s expression shifted, his eyes filled with determination.

“Promise you and Ladybug will fix this.”

“Don’t we always?”

“Thank you.” 

Luka began moving to get down the latter of the lighting stage.

“Luka.”

He stopped and looked at him.

“Please keep her safe.” His tone softer, more vulnerable then before.

Luka gave an assuring look directed towards him. “With my life.”

The two felt a mutual understanding, both wanted to protect Marinette, and they both trusted the other to do so.

Two super powered teens jumped from rooftop to rooftop as they approached the studio where they could see hundreds of Adri-knights circled around. They had been circling the area, careful not to get spotted, trying to find some way to get in. There were no weak spots that they could see.

“So much for getting inside unnoticed.” the turtle hero commented as he scanned the building for an opening. He turned to the fox heroine next to him. “Any ideas a- Rena Rouge?”

The fox heroine next to him noticed that there were a few Adri-knights entering the building. She couldn’t make out who they were, but she did notice them carrying all sorts of decorations, and items. Seems like there was a big event planned.

“I think I have an idea.” Rena rouge smiled. 

Chapter Text

Ladybug moved carefully after parting ways with Kagami. She looked through her communicator to see what that cat was up too.

Head to the lighting shelf above the main stage area. I am waiting up here. Akuma is crazy. There are no knights up here.

Ladybug blinked at the message. Of course! The knights are wearing armor, so going up on high areas would be difficult for them. 

Clever cat. Ladybug smiled as she mentally praised the cat.

She made her way cautiously across backstage where she noticed some Adriknights trying to help some of their own. Seems that they were frozen in place or something. Ladybug thought they looked familiar, but decided to get a better look after meeting with her partner.

She quickly moved up to find the cat doing his best to remain still.

“Sorry to keep you waiting Kitty.”

Chat noir felt his anxious expression ease once he saw the spotted heroine land on the platform.

“Thank goodness, I was worried you got turned into one of those crazy fan knights.”

“Worried I’ll hyper focus on the model? I admit he is pretty cute.” She teased. “Though I don’t think I would force him into a wedding.”

Chat noir felt himself smirk a bit.

Ladybug just called him cute. Good to know for… why does this not feel as good as normal? I mean I still love the compliment from my Lady… Probably the stress of the situation. Yea, that crazy akuma is trying to find my civilian self and trying to fry Marinette. I hope Luka is able to get to her before those akuma do. But then what if Marinette. Oh s*** what if Marinette falls for him during the rescue. Luka is pretty charming and I had my civilian self hiding out like a coward. Damn it Adrien! Now is not the time to be thinking about this! Focus, Marinette’s safety is priority.

“Chat? Earth to Chat?” Ladybug snapped her fingers in front of him

Chat noir quickly brought himself back to reality.

“Oh right, that’s not even the worst of it.” Chat noir answered. “They want to burn alive the girl he came to this interview with.”

Her eyes went wide.

This akuma is fucking insane. Why would she want to burn me alive?! That is some Lila level’s of psycho! To be fair, the akuma are usually far more extreme and malicious due to the influence of hawkmoth. But I guess I can get the wanting to Marry Adrien part.  I imagine Hawkmoth really twisted her emotions, it would make sense that a super fan of Adrien would want to marry him. Adrien is really kind and I know he would be a great dad to our future children Emma, Hugo and Louis. He… Now is not the time for this Marinette, focus on the task at hand. You can’t daydream if Adrien does get captured and married to this hothead.  Ladybug brought herself back to reality

“Don’t worry, I made sure she is safe for now. It will be hard for those knights to get to her, and I sent some back up to help get her out of there.” Chat noir assured.

“Back up?”

“Yeah, I freed one of the people and told him to head over where Marinette is. No worries, I know he is competent. As for Adrien, he is well hidden enough that the knights won’t find him.”

Ladybug was nervous. Because she wasn’t there. She was with Chat noir right now. But he didn’t know. They needed to make sure they beat this akuma fast! But for now, she needed to play it off.

“Oh, you did? I guess we have a similar idea. I ran into another person and have them looking to get Adrien out of here.” Ladybug explained. “Though we should probably try to take care of this akuma as soon as possible.”

He did his best not to think about who Ladybug sent to go look for his civilian self. They will never find him. Hopefully that person will be safe until the akuma is down.

“Agreed, but how are we going to take down this akuma? She has countless minions, and she seems to have some crazy fire powers to boot. I think we need a plan, maybe some back up.”

Ladybug thought about it, summoning lucky charm might be a good idea to get a hint on what to do. Or maybe she should call fu, see if she could meet him there instead. It’s hard to say.

Chat noir looked out to see if he noticed anything that they could use to get a leg up.

“Yes, move the chairs over there. Yes, the carpet is the right color.” An Adri-knight with black hair commented as she commented on the set up for the ‘Union’. Maggie knew exactly what Vivi… Fandoom was doing. She has talked about a dream wedding to Adrien more than once. Maybe more times then she would like to listen to. She could feel Fandoom’s drive to get everything ready, just like she could feel her obsession over Adrien and her burning rage to find that other girl.

Maggie couldn’t tell the specifics, but Fandoom’s feelings seemed to influence the others, trying to go against her ‘Directive’ would likely be impossible, or cause a lot of pain. Maggie was put in charge of the preparations while Fandoom made her way to the dressing room of Sonny to go get prettied up. She had a bunch of designers, stylists, make-up artists, all go into the room to help her get prettied up, all of them inducted into the Adri-knights.

To be honest the task may seem to be on short notice but when you have half of Paris under your control, the task of preparing an event becomes surprisingly easy. Within 1 hour they practically configured the show stage into a halfway decent stage for the event. The decorations were in the works, confections were being made, the music was being prepared. They unfortunately lost one of their guitarists earlier for some reason but they got a replacement rather quickly.

Maggie was sure that things will be ready for the event. Maybe Vivi will be so happy about the union, she won’t barbecue the innocent girl…. she hoped. 

“W-where do you want this lady dude?” A voice asked. it was two Adri-knights holding a large wedding cake. Easily a couple feet tall and the frosting was white as snow. It seemed pretty generic, but at this point that could be a place holder if nothing better comes along. That was Maggie’s thought process on the cake.

“Put it on the craft services tent until we finish cleaning out one of the green rooms and now go assist with the setting up. We will likely need to decorate that Cake later.” Maggie dismissed.

The two knights moved to the table leaving the girl to her thoughts.

“Vivi… is this really what you want?” Maggie whispered under her breath.

The two Adri-knights moved to the table and dropped off the cake. 

“That was easier than expected.” The male Adri-knight whispered. “I can’t believe this worked.

“Looks like the other Adri-knights can’t tell the difference, which is good for us. Now we need to find Ladybug and Chat noir. I bet they will need our help.” The female Adri-knight answered. Suddenly she heard beeping.

“Is that your…” 

“Yes… I am gonna transform back soon and the illusion will drop.” she whisper screamed.

“Easy Rena, we will find you a place to transform.”

“Where!? This place is swarming with these goons!”

Carapace took a moment to look around frantically. Everyplace seemed to be swarmed with knights, in his desperation He looked up and noticed two familiar figures on the lighting shelf. He locked eyes with the cat hero on the platform, the teen did a quick silence gesture to chat noir, informing him that they aren’t going to rat him out. He could see the cat hero smile.

He smiles, grabbing her hand.

“I think I know a place.”

“So much for getting to that green room.” Luka muttered to himself.

He noticed that there were at least four Adri-knights standing guard in the hall. If it was one, he might be able to get passed, maybe even deal with it, but four? He needed a plan.

He looked around for anything that could be of use, but the hall was pretty bare in terms of useful items. What he needed was some sort of distraction. There was only a bunch of audio equipment like microphones and speakers, that were not as much use at this moment in time.

“So, do you think Adrien is in there?” A voice from behind him asked.

“I don’t know but I am sure Marinette …” Luka stopped speaking and turned to see a non-knight hiding next to him. He recognized the girl, though he couldn’t place exactly where at that moment, but he could swear he saw her picture recently…

“How did you sneak up on me?” Luka questioned.

“You were focused on what was in front of you, that you failed to hear my footsteps, those stomping armored boots make it easy to hide sound.” The girl next to him answered.

“Wait, I remember you, You’re Kagami.” Luka realized.

He remembered the fencers from a few meetings they have had. Though during those encounters there were usually others involved, this was technically the first actual conversation the two have had.

“Ah yes, Luka, the hesitant musician. I remember you.” Kagami answered.

“Hesitant?”

“You failed to make a move on Marinette, that is why she still has feelings for Adrien, therefore, your attempts were either very lacking that she dismissed it outright, or you simply hesitated and therefore did not try. I assume the later because…”

“Now isn’t really the time for this. I need to find a way past those knights to get to Marinette. She is in that green room.” Luka explained.

“Why not fight them. Just breaking their crests should free them, not to mention there is only four of them.” Kagami answered.

“I don’t exactly have a weapon to fight them with. So, I am trying to think of a…”

“Luckily I do.” She interrupted as she brandishes her foil.

The fencer charged out of the spot they were hiding and confronted the knights.

“Hey! this is a private...” 

Kagami struck his emblem with her foil before he could finish, breaking the armor off of him.

The other three knights notice and charge at her, each trying to throw pins at her. 

Luka watched in amazement as the competent swordswoman deflected the buttons and struck each of their emblems. Freeing the three.

“That didn’t seem difficult.” Kagami stated with confidence as she turned to Luka, she failed to notice the fifth knight charging at her. But just before the knight could attack Kagami. Luka grabbed a nearby microphone nailing the knight in the nose.

The minion staggered back and Kagami turned to break the crest of the poor bruised opponent.

“You are a bit reckless.” Luka commented. “Nothing wrong with patiently surveying the situation.”

“Too much waiting and nothing will get done.” Kagami countered

“And charging in without thinking will have things go poorly.” Luka fired back.

The two stared at one another, their sharp gazes locked for a moment, then the two eased. They can respect the other’s view on the matter.

“Thank you for your assistance.” Kagami bowed politely.

Luka blinked at the gesture, he was surprised by how honorable it was considering the cold demeanor from earlier. He decided to respect her in kind.

“Thank you for your help. I don’t think I would have been able to handle those knights myself.”

The two watch as the now freed civilians run away from the hall, leaving them on their own.

“Seems it would be best if we worked together.” Kagami commented.

“We need to get Marinette and Adrien out of her, so I will happily take any help I can get.” Luka complied.

“Seems we are both on the same page.”

The two walked into the green room which was surprisingly empty.

“Marinette is probably hiding, we should look for her and ensure everything is safe.” Luka advised as he closed the door behind them quietly.

The two searched every feasible hiding place they could think of and there was no sign of the designer.

“Did you receive bad information?”

“Chat noir insisted it was this room? Did she get captured?”

“That is a possibility. Or she may have escaped. Adrien speaks highly of her cleverness. I would agree with his sentiment.” 

“Marinette is really creative, I would not put it past her to find a way out already.”

The two teens paused as they started to hear the sound of at least a dozen or so metal sabatons marching towards the room.

Luka looked around and noticed an open small storage closet.

“In there.” Luka gestured.

“No! we stand and fight! There is a narrow entry way and we can pop their…”

Luka took her arm and pulled her into the closet to hide. He quickly closed the door. Kagami was going to protest, but Luka put a finger to her lips.

“Just trust me on this. We can’t risk getting captured. Not if we want to save them.” He whispered softly.

Kagami wanted to deck him for that, for pulling her into the closet, for insisting she stay quiet, for insisting they hide, but she decided she would hold off on that urge.  Though, now that he was so close, she couldn’t help but thinks she had seen a picture of him recently, which is bizarre as she had not seen him since the Ice rink incident. She shook that thought out of her head, noting that down as a question for later. 

“If they find us, and both of my friends are hurt because of this. I will turn you into a pin cushion.”

“Noted.”

She also made the realization that she has been involved with closets a lot more than normal today. Kagami decided to focus on the bright side, at least Lila was trapped in a closet, that was able to put a smile on her face.

“Chat noir are you certain you saw that right?”

“Yes, the knight looked directly at me and signaled. I think they are pretending.”

“Alright, but if this turns out to be a trick and we get captured. I blame you.”

“Fair.”

Chat noir kept an eye on the two suspicious minions as they moved to a secluded part of the stage and jumped surprisingly high, allowing them to get to the Lighting shelf with no one noticing.

The two heroes were surprised by the quick leaping knights. Chat noir almost yelped in surprise, but Ladybug quickly covered his mouth.

“Hope you needed assistance lady dude.” The male knight spoke.

The spotted heroine blinked.

Chat noir felt his frown turn to a smile.

“Carapace? Rena Rouge?”

“You know it.” 

The two male heroes fist bump and the illusion wears off, showing the green turtle themed costume of Carapace as well as the fox heroine next to him.

“I’m timing out.” Rena commented.

Chat noir turned around instinctively Making sure he didn’t see. He made sure to face away from the three.

Rena rouge’s Kwami popped out and she transformed back into Alya.

“I couldn’t hold it any longer.” Trixx apologized.

“It’s alright little dude, you held out long enough.” Carapace encouraged.

“Do you have anything to feed him? That will help him refuel and get you back in the game.” 

Rena looked into her bag and searched for something, unfortunately all she had was a bag of habenaro barbecue chips that her older sister loves. She didn’t really think to pack any other snacks when they ran off.

“All I have are some spicy chips, will that work?” Alya asked.

The fox Kwami smiled.

“It is fortunate that I love spicy food.” The fox opened the bag and helped himself to some chips.

“I am glad you both are here. We could really use the back up.” Ladybug spoke, relieved to have more allies.

“Is she transformed yet? Can I turn around?” Chat noir asked.

“Not yet, trixx is still eating.” Alya answered. “Sorry about this.”

“It’s fine… I am use to being out of the loop at this point.” 

“I would tell you mine… but then you would figure out hers” Carapace answered, he felt bad for the cat hero.

“Chat…” Ladybug spoke up “You know I don’t want to keep this from you?”

“I know. The more people that know, the more risk there is, and miraculous is important and all of that stuff. But that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.” Chat noir responded. “And truthfully I only care about one person’s identity.”

Ladybug paused as she looked at him.

“I really want to tell you one day.” Ladybug confessed. “When it’s finally okay. You will be the first to know.”

Chat noir felt his heart beat. He knows he was being selfish, and yet here she is being so understanding of his feelings.

“Thank you. That is all I wanted to hear.”  Chat noir’s tone was no longer heavy. “The same thing goes for me as well.”

Ladybug smiled now that her partner was calm, but she did mean what she said. She really does want to tell him.

Trixx popped out of the chip bag.

“Delicious! Okay I am ready.” The fox Kwami exclaimed.

“Trixx! Let’s Pounce!” Alya transformed back into Rena Rouge. Chat noir turned himself back around, with his trademark smirk on his face.

“Now that I am back to full strength. What is the plan?”

Ladybug pondered for a moment and looked at the stage. It was clear that the preparations for the Akuma’s weird wedding were almost complete. Thankfully, it seems that she hasn’t been able to Locate Adrien.

“Are you 100% sure that they won’t locate Adrien?” Ladybug asked.

“Positive. I am not even sure I could find him in such short notice.” Chat noir assured.

Carapace and Rena both sigh with relief.

“What about Marinette!” Rena rouge speaks up. “Is she safe?”

“Yes.” Chat noir and Ladybug explain in unison.

“Oh good, I don’t want m… an innocent person roasted in a bonfire.” Rena recovered, not wanting to reveal her connection to tip of Chat noir.

“Agreed, Marinette is hot enough as is.” Chat noir commented.

“What?” Ladybug spoke up, face red after hearing that.

“Hell yea, she is.” Rena rouge agreed. The two heroes gave each other a High five. “You saw that awesome outfit right? She made that herself.” 

“How could I not see it!? That outfit was incredible. I mean I can’t believe she based an outfit off my costume. She was cute before but now you would have to be blind not to think she was…”

“Now is not the time!” Ladybug spoke, her face clearly red. “We need to focus.”

Rena rouge mentally noted that Ladybug looked frazzled, she might be jealous of her designer best friend. She will be sure to let Ladybug know that Marinette is more focused on Adrien then her cat partner.

“Ladybug is right.” Carapace interjected. “But we can all agree Marinette rocked that outfit.”

“Definitely.” Rena rouge and Chat noir spoke in unison.

“Any-way.” Ladybug moving the subject back on track. “I have an idea.”

“Great, what’s the plan Bugaboo?”

“She wants Marinette and Adrien, that’s who we are going to give her.”

Chapter Text

“You can’t be serious.” Rena rouge whisper shouted. 

“Hear me out”

“I am NOT throwing My g… this innocent girl into that oven of crazy for the sake of a plan.”

Ladybug felt touched by the fox’s commitment to her civilian self, but managed to keep that hidden.

“We aren’t actually going to give them Adrien and Marinette.” Ladybug began to explain. “I need you to get to the roof to cast an illusion, make as many copies of Adrien and Marinette as you can. Then have them spread out all over the city. The Akuma will be forced to send her minions after them, then we barricade all of the doors. The less minions here the better.”

The three teens thought about the plan.

“Wait, but once she realizes it’s a fake, she will call them all back here, do we think we can beat her in that short amount of time?” Carapace pointed out.

Ladybug pondered, if she used her lucky charm now, that would mean she had even less time.

“I think I have an idea. We can give her half of what she wants.” Chat noir spoke up.

The three other heroes look at the cat hero, contemplating what he was implying.

Ladybug picked up on what he was referring to.

“You want to use the real Adrien as a distraction…”

“Yes, but….”

“Not cool!”

“No way!”

“That is crazy dangerous!”

Chat noir used his hands to motion for them to calm down.

“Listen, I have a way this could work. Trust me on this, Adrien will be fine. That akuma wants to Marry him not fry him! So, I can at least be sure he won’t be harmed.” Chat noir defended his point. 

“Dude…”

“I wouldn’t suggest it if we had other options. Our best bet is to have the minions flee, barricade the doors, have Adrien reveal himself and distract her, then I go to the main power grid and make the power short circuit. We snag Adrien out of there and take the akuma with a surprise attack.” 

The three heroes considered the idea.

Ladybug had to admit it was a solid plan, she could then use her lucky charm right before the power goes out, see how to utilize it, and then they can take down the akuma. She gave in to the idea.

“Find Adrien and make sure he is okay with this plan. I am not going to use Adrien as bait if he says no.”

Chat noir nodded.

“I’ll sneak over and get him. I will contact you once I get to him, and tell you if he is up for it.”

“Okay, regardless of answer we start with the plan. Rena Rouge, Head to the roof.” Ladybug instructed.

“Alright, Here I go.” Rena Rouge started to make her way quickly to the roof.

“Carapace, wait for the minions to leave and start barricading the doors. Once you are done, go to where Rena rouge is. She will need help in making sure the minions stay out.”

“Got it” Carapace acknowledged and moved to a better vantage point on the lighting shelf to be ready to block the exits.

“Chat noir. you need to cut the power in the exact time I tell you. Not a moment sooner. Once you finish, head where I am and pull me away. I don’t have night vision like you do, and I am pretty sure that the akuma doesnt have night vision either.”

“Leave it to me My lady. I will be there and ready.” Chat noir gave a wink before heading off.

The red clad heroine took a deep breath, she had to trust everyone, Adrien’s life was in their hands.

Chat noir moved cautiously as he found an empty enough area to transform back to Adrien.

He opens his communicator.

He types the message.

‘Adrien is safe. He says he is okay with the plan, as long as Marinette remains safe.’

Chat noir sent the message and waited for her response. Proud of how well he is wingman-ing for himself.

Wait, why did I include that last part? Marinette isn’t even in there. I don’t need to wingman for myself right now. He realized as he reflected on his message. 

Well It is true if I wasn’t chat noir right now that is the condition I would put to go out there. Or at least make sure she is safe first before doing something reckless. 

Chat noir felt his baton buzz and it had a message from Ladybug.

‘Okay, brief him on the plan. Make sure to cut the power in exactly 10 minutes. Not a moment later.’

Chat noir responded with a smiley sunglasses cat emoji and decided to get to work.

“Claws in”

The cat hero returned to his civilian identity and the black cat Kwami Popped out.

“You absolutely sure about this kid? You are stepping into the lion’s den with this one.”

“No Worries, I trust you and the others. Remember to cut the power when the time is right. Then come find me.”

“Okay, just remember to really beef up the story when you are flirting with your girlfriend.”

“I am not going to be beefing up the story that I tell Marinette.” 

“So, you admit you will be flirting with her and that she is your girlfriend.”

Adrien felt his cheeks turn red.

“We will talk about it later.”

He hands the cat a small piece of cheese.

“Don’t eat it until After you cataclysm the power source.”

“I know I know. I got this.” The cat assured before floating off.

“Okay.” Adrien made sure to hide himself as he waited for Ladybug to start the plan.

The Fox Heroine stood on the roof of the building looking at the city, there was a massive crowd of Adri-Knights surrounding the building. She thanked her miraculous that they didn’t notice her up on the roof.

She felt her flute buzz and checked to see that it was Ladybug Messaging her.

‘Chat noir is in position. Adrien is down with the plan. He agreed to it if it protects Marinette. Use your powers’

Rena Rouge smiled at that message. Ladybug didn’t need to include that last part, but it so made her day that she did.

“I wish I could tell Mari about this. She needs to know how she is KILLING it with that boy.” 

She messaged Ladybug saying she is ready to go.

She activates her power and as far she could see, she made dozens of Adrien and Marinette copies. He made sure to have them run into view of Adri-knights and had them run while holding hands. She didn’t have to have them holding hands, but she felt they needed to hold hands. Marinette would appreciate it if she saw this. 

The fox sighs to herself. She really wishes she could tell Marinette that she helps out Ladybug, but sadly she will never know.

“But at least I can make sure any photos of the illusion get uploaded to the ladyblog, for reporting reasons, and maybe so Marinette can blush about it.”

She felt beautiful.

Sure, the seamstress had to sew her into the dress since her hair was a bit of an interesting issue. The white gown went over her armor perfectly. She made sure to take off the pouch and attach it to the side of the dress. The fiery haired akuma smiled as she admired the dress in the mirror.

“It’s perfect. You guys do excellent... AGH!”

Fandoom screamed as she held her head.

“ITS THEM! ITS THEM!” Echoed thousands of voices.

She felt the cries of thousands of her minions as they mentally shouted. They were alerting her.

She took a peak and there she saw it. She gritted her teeth in rage.

She looked through the eyes of one of her minions and saw her beloved Adrien running away holding the hand of that man stealing witch in the cat noir themed outfit! Her fiery Hair flared in rage.

“I want EVERYONE after them. NOW!” Fandoom screamed. “OUT! OUT! OUT!!”

The make-up artists, the seamstresses and the rest of the entourage ran out of the room. Her will compelled them to run out and get those two.

She walked out of the dressing room and watched as all of her minions ran out of the studio in search of the two teens.

“They won’t escape me now.” Fandoom exclaimed with a sinister smile.

She mentally commanded her knights to tell her the moment they found them and bring them both back to her.

The sound of metal boots sounded near the door as Kagami and Luka held their breath.

“I thought I heard something in here.” One of the knights in the room spoke.

“It was probably nothing, we have been searching all over for Adrien and that nasty pigtailed rat. We aren’t going to find them in here.”

“Rat?” Luka whispered in a surprised and angry tone.

Kagami looked up to see the musician’s eyebrow twitch. He clearly did not like that comment the knight said about Marinette. Kagami would agree, but letting themselves get angry and revealing their location after going through the effort of hiding would be pointless.

The fencer put a finger to his lips,

“Shh.” Kagami hushed with a cold stare.

Luka realizing that the fencer was right calmed himself.

“Right sorry.”

The duo stayed quiet as they heard the footsteps moving away.

“Order from the queen, the two are outside! We need to go!”

The sound of the metal boots started to fade fast and eventually the room fell silent after they heard the sound of a door close.

The two teens waited a minute before cracking the door to see if they were safe.

Thankfully they were in the clear.

They carefully exit the closet.

“Are we clear?” Kagami asked as she scanned the room.

“Yes.”

“Good”

Kagami slugs his arm.

Luka grunted at the punch.

“We could have handled them with ease.”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you stop me?”

“Could you handle 100 of them?” 

Kagami was about to respond but she hated that he had a point. They could take a few guards but one misstep could have them overwhelmed. 

“Okay music man, so clearly Marinette and Adrien aren’t here, how do you think they got out of here and how do you suppose we avoid these metal men?”

Luka pondered for a moment. He looked around the room and noticed a large ventilation shaft, large enough to fit a person.

“I might have an idea about both.”

Fandoom walked to the stage where her knights had set up everything she wanted for her Wed… Union. She smiled at the thought. She gracefully glided around as she admired the decorations. Maggie had done a wonderful job setting things up. The other Adri-knights did well in their tasks. Now if they could capture the two remaining pieces that would be perfect. Though she can’t help but feel a touch uneasy.

She walked to the main stage and stood where she would be the moment Adrien was brought to her. She could picture the scene now, all of Paris watching as she and Adrien lock hands, they say their vows of eternal love and devotion and then when they both say ‘I do’. Fandoom felt herself get all giddy.

“Oh I can’t wait!” She cheered

“H-Hello?” a voice as familiar to the akuma as a favorite song sounded behind her.

She turned to see a blond teen approach. Her eyes went wide and her cheeks turned rosy.

“A-A-A-A-A-A-Adrien Agreste!!!!” She squealed.

“So… I hear you are looking for me.” Adrien spoke, his rehearsed smile that seemed genuine to the rest of Paris shined. He knew he would need to distract her. He was used to dealing with fans, though this is the first super powered one.

“Yes! Yes, I am! But I thought you were… I should call my knights…”

He could not let her do that! He needed to have her focus away from her knights. Adrien moved and caught her hand. 

“Wait, you can call them later. Let us… talk. I would like to know the girl that went through all of this trouble just to find me.” Adrien insisted.

Fandoom felt herself melt at the hand touch.

“There really isn’t much to tell. I just am someone that loves you.” Fandoom confessed. “Oh, my Adrien! I said it.”

Adrien was able to keep his smiling facade, but he was clearly uncomfortable. He never liked how causally his fans said they ‘Love him’. It wasn’t true, they only know the image that his father cultivated for him. It isn’t love, its idolization made from tv ads and magazine photo shoots.

“So… where exactly is the akuma? If you don’t mind me asking.” Adrien changed the subject. “Is it in your lovely crown?”

“Oh, this thing? You really think its lovely! Omg you are so sweet. No, its not in my crown. It’s in this pouch.” Fandoom naively answered pointing to the pouch on her waist. She was so entranced by Adrien that she didn’t realize how tactless the question was.

Fandoom moved away and turned her face as she gushed.

Adrien used the moment she looked away to check around and see if Carapace was finished barricading the doors. He decided now would be a good chance to snag the pouch before she realizes, but before he could go for it she turned back around.

“You are so incredibly wonderful!” Fandoom swooned. “Maggie said to never get my hopes up about you but that was a load of crap. You are even better than I thought you would be.”

She took his hands. Adrien felt the hair on the back of his neck stick up.

“Now that you’re here. We can have the ceremony! We can be together, forever! Ruling over Paris as everyone loves and adores you. Isn’t that amazing.”

Adrien resisted the urge to pull his hands away and run.

“Its… its something.”

“I knew you would love it. I am your number one fan, I know everything about you.” She cooed. “So naturally after the wedding I will need to track down that nasty manipulative shrew you came to the interview with.”

Adrien’s fake smile faded.

“Marinette?”

“Yes! That bitch.” Fandoom answered. “She will make perfect kindling as our love burns.”

Adrien pulled his hands away. 

Fandoom looked at him in surprise.

“Marinette is someone important in my life. I don’t want her to suffer.”

Fandoom blinked.

“But Adrien she is a liar. She clearly manipulated you and…”

“If you truly understand how I feel, then you would know that I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.” Adrien’s tone was harsh.

“Adrien… she has you fooled. She isn’t your soulmate, I know all about that list. This girl has you believing you are perfectly compatible. I was told the truth by your best friend.” Fandoom responds.

Adrien looked at the girl in confusion. 

Why would Nino tell her something like this? That doesn’t make any sense. Wait a minute. The only people that know about the Marinette’s placement on the list are me, Marinette, Nino, possibly Alya and… LILA! That nasty lying… I fell for her lies AGAIN!

Adrien placed his hand on Fandoom’s shoulder.

“I am sorry that you got akumatized because of a lie. But Marinette didn’t trick me. I know she would never. Marinette is too good of a person to ever do something so low. The person that told you that was trying to upset you. I am sorry that your feelings were twisted by someone so cruel.” 

Fandoom’s expression was frozen.

“Let’s get you to Ladybug, she will purify the akuma, and we can pretend like this whole thing never happened.”

“So, if it wasn’t a lie then… Do you believe that she is your soulmate?”

Adrien’s calm facade cracked as he tried to answer. He felt his brain start to smoke as he tried to think of an answer.

“I mean…. I think…. well…maybe”

Adrien tried to articulate, Fandoom’s expression began turning bitter.

Adrien noticed her hair began flaring up. Adrien started to back away slowly.

“THEN SHE IS THE ONE STANDING IN MY WAY! I WILL TURN HER TO ASHES!!!!”  

Fandoom’s hair flared up like a pillar of fire. 

“But before that. I will show you we are meant to be, even if I need to make you see it.”

She went into her pouch and pulled out a button.

“I know you will see things how they are now.”

Just before she could throw it, Ladybug swung in with her yo-yo and snagged the boy out of the way.

“Ladybug!” Adrien exclaimed in relief.

“I happened to be swinging by and noticed you could need some help.” Ladybug quipped. She mentally told herself that she would strangle chat for putting these puns in her head.

Adrien laughed.

“Well I am glad you spotted me when you did.” Adrien said with a nervous smile, hoping his joke landed.

She couldn’t help but giggle when looking at his cute face delivering that pun.

“Geez, are puns a common trend with all cute blonds in Paris?”

“Cute?”

Ladybug felt her face flush, but she quickly remembered the situation and went back to focusing.

Ladybug thinks I am cute! She thinks Adrien is cute… wait she said blonds. She thinks chat noir is also cute. She thinks both sides of me are cute. Adrien felt his cheeks burn.

Ladybug got him to the other side of the set away from Fandoom.

“Get yourself out of here, I will take it from here.” The heroine assured, her words able to bring the blushing blond back to earth.

“Thank you, m… Ladybug. You are amazing.” Adrien began running away from the main stage to safety.

Ladybug was relieved that she was able to save Adrien, but unfortunately, she didn’t summon her Lucky charm yet. She would need to use it later and see what it is once she has a free moment.

Fandoom was furious.

“Ladybug! How dare you steal him from me!” 

A butterfly outline appeared over her face. a familiar voice rang in her head.

“Fandoom! Get Ladybug under your control.” Hawkmoth commanded.

“No.” She growled.

“No?! I order you to...”

“I will rip those earrings off her burnt body!”

The villain felt himself surprised by the Akuma’s statement. She clearly was emotionally unstable. Be that as it may, he was not going to call back such a powerful akuma unless he absolutely had to.

“Just be sure to keep the flames on Ladybug. No need for excessive collateral damage.”

“Of course, Hawkmoth.”

The butterfly outline vanished as Fandoom put away her pin back into her pouch and let her hands be engulfed in a bright red flame.

“Prepare yourself Ladybug, you should have never gotten in the way of Adrien and my happiness. Prepare for a flame war!”

Ladybug quickly dodged by moving right to avoid an upcoming fireball.

“You won’t be able to escape my sight.” She roared.

As if on cue, the lights in the room shut off, and all of the electronics and screens went dim.

“What the heck?”

Ladybug moved quietly away as Fandoom looked around in the pitch-black room. The only light being her Fiery hair and fists.  Ladybug figured the less she could see of her hair, the safer she was.

The super heroine moved carefully, hoping to avoid bumping into something as she made her escape so she could summon her charm...

As she began side stepping she noticed that the akuma started shooting fireballs everywhere. Each spot catching fire. Lighting the area, they landed as well as slowly spreading.

Ladybug’s eyes went wide in horror. She was using the fire to light up the stage, but at the rate she was going, she would burn the place down!

Adrien had been sprinting to the main generator and was sure he would reach it soon. Adrien stopped moving when the power went out. Plagg did it! But now he was away from the initial location he had planned to meet Plagg at. So, he had to hope that cat could sniff out the camembert in his pocket.

“Adrien…” He hears a soft call out from a distance away.

Adrien looked in the distance and noticed the glowing green eyes of his Kwami.

He quickly moved towards the floating cat creature.

The cat Kwami turned and saw Adrien approaching.

“Oh, good I found you. I ate my cheese and I need more.”

“You did a good job and…”

Adrien paused when he noticed the smell of smoke.

“Ooo is that Smoked Camembert?” Plagg inquired. “Because while I never thought of it, I imagine it to be delicious.

Adrien quickly put 2 and 2 together to realize the situation.

“That is definitely not good.”

Carapace had made his way to the roof once the main entranceways had been barricaded. The only way in was through the high up windows, which people, especially ones in heavy armor, couldn’t get to.

“Things are set on my end.” Carapace calls out to the fox heroine.

Rena Rouge turns to him

“Good.” She drops her transformation allowing Trixx to pop out of the necklace for a quick recharge. He hands him the rest of the bag of chips.

“Ladybug and Chat noir are down there now. I think everything will go as planned, the minions should be stalled long enough thanks to your awesome powers.”

“Just in case, If you see any coming up, do you think you can use your power to cover the building?”

The turtle thought for a moment, it should be possible.

“I’ll give it a try. Smart thinking babe.” Carapace praised.

Alya smirks.

“You know, I think we have some time before we have to worry about those minions and Trixx needs a snack break.” Alya said with an alluring smirk. “I did always want to play ‘Super penguino” with Carapace.”

The turtle hero felt his face flush. He knew full well they were not playing the addictively fun game on her tablet.

“I suppose we have a little time. I am sure Ladybug and Chat noir can handle it for a minute without us.”

It had been a while since Lila had heard anything from outside the door. She figured it would be best to just sit quietly and wait till this stupid mess was over. Even if she was stranded in the closet, soaked in mop water and even almost pierced by a fencing foil, she still succeeded in what she wanted to do. She still covered her tracks and had mileage on the pesky pigtailed brat. Maybe if she was lucky, that akuma found Marinette and was planning to have her knights tear her limb from limb.

Lila felt a sinister smile creep on her face. This little hiccup won’t get her down. But then as she thought she had found the bright side to this ordeal, she could swear she was smelling smoke.

Chapter Text

Fakes… they were all fakes!

The Adri-Knights paused as they all saw what appeared to be the two people they were driven to look for vanish from sight.

“It was a trick!” The Adri-knight Maggie exclaimed in frustration. “We need to get back to Fandoom.”

The knights turned around and began making their way back when they felt a powerful burning rage consume their thoughts.

“BURN! BURN EVERYTHING!”

The powerful thought was clearly driven by Fandoom. The knights stood as they heard this mental shout. Was this a command?! Was it just her anger? It was so hard to tell. It compelled them to obey.

The stronger willed ones started to try and break free from control, but they weren’t strong enough to leaving them holding their heads in pain until they submitted. The Knights that didn’t fight back started acting on the emotions of their master. They started trying to make sparks.

Maggie could still feel the powerful mental screams of her leader… her friend. Vivienne needed her.

She managed to find a way to push through the pain and began making her own course of action.

Maggie started to run back to the studio. This wasn’t about Adrien, or their group. This wasn’t a knight following orders of a queen. This was the drive of a girl running to save her best friend from being consumed by her burning rage.

“Don’t worry Vivi, I will save you.”

Maggie kept running despite the splitting headache she was facing, nothing was going to stop her from getting to her friend.

“I am impressed with your resourcefulness.”

Luka paused after hearing that comment. Kagami’s praise was unprompted and flattering.

“You are?”

“Yes, I wouldn’t have thought to try navigating through the metal ducts. It makes perfect sense, considering the knights would be too heavy to move without notice.” 

“I am glad you think so. The only issue is I don’t know which way is out.” Luka confessed.

“A trivial concern. If Adrien and Marinette were able to escape, then we should be able to as well.”

Luka admired her optimism… no that wasn’t it… her perseverance. Yes, that was the correct word. Kagami definitely had that quality in spades, it was something to be admired. 

Luka never really knew what to make of Kagami at first. To be honest, he never really paid much attention the first time he met her. He was more preoccupied with Marinette and Kagami was more occupied with Adrien, so this wasn’t seen as rude by either of them. But now he couldn’t help but observe. Kagami was clear. Her song was powerful. To many people, this would seem to be harsh. The musician could however hear subtler notes, Kagami’s song was something that could be described as a symphony. So many intricate details that are missed at first by the powerful notes, there were soft notes that showed kindness, notes that showed insecurity. The song that Kagami’s heart played was not clear like with Marinette’s, hers was complex but rewarding to those that paid closer attention. It was something new in itself. It was something he mulled over as they pressed on. He was starting to understand the reason he saw her face in that app list.

The two continued moving through the vents until they reached a fork that would take them right or left.

“Hmmm… what do you think?” Kagami inquired.

Luka put his ear to the metal floor and knocked on it, listening closely to the vibrations.

“The nearest exit is left.”

Kagami’s expression shifted to bewilderment.

“What makes you certain of this.”

“The acoustics.”

Kagami blinked, unsure of how to respond to that.

“Very well.”

The two take the left path and continue crawling.

I know I have seen his face recently, I can almost swear I saw it earlier today. A photo of some kind. Perhaps on a…phone.

Kagami realized where she remembered his photo. That list, that app she had heard about in fencing class. He was on her list. He was at the top of that list, above Adrien.

She never gave it much thought once she saw it the first time, clearly there had to have been some bug in the system. But… maybe there is more to it. At the very least, she could add him as a friend.

“Luka.” Kagami spoke suddenly. The musician leading the way stopped.

“You seem to care about Marinette and Adrien a great deal, correct?”

“Yes, they are friends of mine.”

“Those two are dear friends of mine as well.”

“Yes…” Luka was unsure of where the fencer was going with this.

“Therefore, if both of my friends deem you worthy of friendship, you must be someone worth being a friend to also.”

“Are… you asking me to be your friend?”

He had turned around and noticed how awkward the calm collected girl had seen. He had to admit, she was cute.

“Of course, you are free to decline this offer and we will pretend this never…”

“Sure.”

She stopped talking.

“You are not messing with me, are you?”

“I imagine you come off as cold to people at first, have had trouble making friends.” Luka spoke, his words hitting her hard. She was about to say something but he continued.

 “But I can tell you are a good person, and you are friends with people I care about. You’re a crescendo of different emotions that bring out something I have not encountered, it’s very interesting. I would be happy to have you in my chorus of friends.” Luka assured. “To be honest, I am not great at making friends either.”

He watched as the girl’s flustered expression turned into a soft smile that Luka felt made his heart beat skip for a moment.

“Thank you, Friend.”

Luka smiled back and just before he could say anything else, they heard a scream of panic.

“FIRE! FIRE! HELP ME!!!”

“Fire?” The two teens respond in unison.

The blue haired duo start making their way to the sound of the screaming girl, hoping to get to her before the fire does.

Lila rammed into the door as she screamed.

The door was locked and there was no way she could break it down. The exchange student felt the pain in her shoulder from repeated failed charges at the door.

She didn’t have anything to pick the lock, her phone was dead so she couldn’t call for help, she was soaked in filthy mop water and she is smelling smoke. Her plan had backfired and there is no one to save her.

Her smugness from a moment ago was a fleeting memory as fear encompassed her body.

“Somebody! Anybody!” Lila cried out.

She gave one last charge into the door but it failed to open. What if Ladybug and Chat noir failed? Would this really be how it ends for her? Burned alive or suffocated by smoke? Would her mother find out? What would she say? What if people found out why she was here? The chilling fear caught up to her, making what she called out next exemplify her desperation.

“Chat noir! …. Ladybug…. Please help! I need a hero!”

She was going to burn the building down!

Ladybug could see the frustrated akuma shoot flames in different locations. Fandoom was searching for her. Didn’t she remember that Adrien was in this building? Did she even really care? Was she so far lost in her fiery temper that she would burn everything?

“Get out here, Ladybug! I will find Adrien even if I have to burn all of Paris to do it!” Fandoom cried out as her hair flared up. Her flame hair was flaring up to make her seem twice as big. “Adrien will be mine or you will burn!”

Ladybug kept low and hidden as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Fandoom was thankfully just as blind in the dark, save for her flames.

“Not even Darkness can obscure your beauty my Lady.” a familiar voice purred.

“Chat! Thank goodness.” She whispered in relief.

“So, good news, power is out. Bad news, fire system is not automatic and we need to find the water valve to turn on the sprinklers.” Chat noir reported.

“I am starting to think shutting off the power wasn’t as great of an idea as I initially believed. I can’t see anything. How can I use Lucky charm, if I can’t even see what it will work with?” Ladybug questioned.

“I will be your eyes. Activate your lucky charm.” Chat noir responded.

Ladybug shrugged. it really couldn’t hurt to try.

“Lucky charm.”

Her power activated and in her hand dropped a manual with a hard cover. Ladybug catching it on pure instinct.

“What is it?”

The black cat took a closer look.

“It’s a book on fire safety. Its open to a page on evacuating people. ‘Make sure all people are made aware of the fire and ensure they escape.’ I guess this could be useful. But I shouldn’t read in the dark.”

Ladybug thinks for a moment before realizing exactly what the book was saying. Her eyes went wide.

“This one is a twofer.” 

“Oh?”

“First, we need to call Rena Rogue and Carapace. We need to have them get everyone else out of the building. There might be a few people still stuck in the building. And… I think there maybe a girl still trapped in the closet.”

“Wait What?”

“The second thing is we need to transform.”

“My Lady, we are already heroes and I don’t think now is the time for a reveal, but of course I am not exactly…”

“The potions silly kitty.”

“Of course!”

Ladybug covered his mouth. 

Fandoom stopped what she was doing and turned towards the shout.

“What was that?”

The angry akuma fired a blast of flames in that direction.

Chat noir and Ladybug quickly moved and avoided the attack.

The large attack caused the area to light up more and allowed Fandoom to see the two heroes.

“Ladybug and Chat noir. I knew I would find both of you.” Fandoom gloated.

“Chat, go check to see if there are any people still in the building. Call Carapace and Rena rouge and tell them we have more pressing matters to deal with and that they need to find the main water valve. The minions will be a non-issue if the fire becomes a threat. When you’re done, come back ready for a fire fight.”

“Way to fire off a good idea bugaboo.”

Ladybug exhaled from her nose, trying her best not the let him see the small smile his bad pun gave her.

Chat noir used his staff to pounce away.

Fandoom lined up her hand to fire a blast of flames at the cat.

“Time for the cat to become a toasty fur ball.”

Ladybug chucked the manual at the akuma, smacking Fandoom right in the face making her miss her shot and allowing Chat noir to escape.

Fandoom recovered to see Ladybug glaring at her in a battle stance.

Fandoom grinned as she used her flames and made a ring of fire surrounding them.

“This should keep you from leaving.”

Ladybug began spinning her yo-yo.

“Alright matchstick. Let’s see if you burn out.”

Chat noir rushed off as fast as he could. He left Ladybug alone to deal with an akuma alone. He knows Ladybug can handle herself, but she just used Lucky charm, he has less than five minutes until she transforms back. In that interval he will need to get all of the people trapped in the building out, transform into his fire!chat noir transformation and rush back to Ladybug so that she can do the same.

Chat noir stopped once he knew he was in a safe area. He fired off a quick message to Carapace and Rena Rouge right before He undid his transformation, allowing his Kwami to pop out of the ring.

“Alright Plagg, time to give this new form a test drive.”

“I really don’t want to eat this cheese… wow, that’s a statement I was not expecting to say ever.” 

The cat Kwami reluctantly ate the red cheese and his form was altered. His new form had a fiery green lion mane adorning his neck and his claws seemed sharper, his tail having a bit of fuzz on the tip.

Adrien prepared to transform. “Pyro Plagg, Claws out!” Chat noir’s costume was thicker, it felt like it was made of a tougher substance.

His belt tail was bushy at the end with a green fur. He noticed his costume now had a hood that had a green fur mane hood that he could pull over his head, His gloves had sharper claws, his boots were spiked and gave him more grip then before. and he could close an inner layer of the hood to cover his nose and mouth to avoid smoke inhalation.

“Charred Chat noir is ready for a rescue.”

He couldn't resist the joke.

The enhanced hero dashed full speed, he needed to hurry and get back to his lady. He would not let her down no matter what. 

“Are you two done?” Trixx comments with an amused smirk. “Cause at this rate I think I might need to give you two some space.”

The fox Kwami finished his chip snack and was ready for action.

The two teens stop what they were doing and turned to the fox. Both blushing, forgetting that the fox had pretty much been watching as he feasted on spicy chips.

“Breaks over.” Alya said as she booped her boyfriend’s nose with her finger.

“Are you sure we don’t have more time?” Carapace asked, still a bit dazed from his girlfriend’s impressive kissing skills.

“After the day is saved.” Alya insisted before transforming back into Rena Rouge.

Carapace sighs but is still happy he did get some Alya sugar.

“Huh… I see minions in the distance… but they aren’t rushing back here.” The turtle hero commented as he looked off of the roof.

The fox heroine walked next to him and confirmed his statement.

“Bizarre. The illusion should have worn off the moment I transformed back to civilian form. They should all be running back by now.”

Carapace and Rena rogue notice their weapons received a message.

“It’s from Chat noir.”

The fox hero begins reading the message aloud.

“Crazy akuma is trying to burn down the building. Power is off, and the sprinkler system is a manual one. Find the main water valve, turn it on. Hurry before it’s too late.”

“Seems that the plan has taken quite a shift. We need to hurry down there.”

“What about the minions?” 

“The minions won’t really matter if the building burns down.”

Carapace paused before realizing that was a solid point.

“Okay, should we split up and look for it or stay together.”

“Considering we might be walking into a fire fight, probably best if we stick together.”

Carapace takes her hand.

“I got your back.”

“And I have yours.”

Rena rouge plants a soft kiss on Carapace’s cheek before the two head down to assist.

______________________________________________________________________

“We are getting close” Kagami noted as the two made their way through the vents.

“I think We are where the screams are coming from.” Luka answered. 

The musician put his ear to the vent and listened. He could hear the desperate wails of someone below.

“Yes, they are below us. Sadly, there is no exit for us to get to her. The vent turns left.”

Kagami touched the vent floor they were crawling through.

“These vents are not as durable as they need to be, we should be able to get down from here.”

“Oh? You have an idea?”

Kagami reveals her foil.

“I might have one idea.”

Luka was not entirely sure what she was implying was not a good idea. But he decided to roll with it.

Ladybug used her yo-yo to block the fire ball projectiles. She was thankful that Fandoom was more interested in fighting then trying to make her join her side.

Ladybug capitalized on the girls anger and used it to avoid her attacks. Even with the limited mobility thanks to the large ring of fire around them, Ladybug still had plenty of space to move and avoid the akuma without getting too close.

She swung her yo-yo at the right moment and wrapped around the akuma’s feet. Causing the obsessive fan to fall over. Ladybug tried to approach to get the pouch at her hip but before then a massive burst of fire was blasted in Ladybug’s direction. 

Ladybug barely avoided the attack while also saving her yo-yo from burning. The white wedding dress that once adorned the akuma had caught fire. In her panic, the akuma touched her dress with her fiery fingers causing it to burn even faster until it was nothing but ash.

“You nasty little insect. You made me ruin my dress!” Fandoom hissed.

Ladybug began backing away slowly. Only to remember the ring of fire behind her. Smoke started to become thicker as time passed. Ladybug wasn’t sure if what would get her first, her timer running out, the smoke, or the fire.

“My powers grow stronger with every person under the cause. Thousands of people are under my orders. I am far more powerful than any foe you faced. My feelings for Adrien give me the strength to fight and win. In all of the World, there is no one whose love for Adrien exceeds my own!”

Ladybug’s nerves about the fire diminished and she felt her passion and own emotions boil to the surface.

“Love? You can say that with such certainty?”

Fandoom glared at Ladybug. She raised her arm to shoot another fireball at the insect heroine.

“What are you saying? Of course, I can!”

“Do you know him?”

Fandoom ready to blast a fireball at Ladybug stopped her attack.

“Know him? What stupid question is that?”

Ladybug shakes her head.

“No, you don’t. You think you do, you may know his favorite food, you may know his favorite band, but you don’t know what he is like. You know of him, but you don’t know him.”

Fandoom’s eyes widened at the heroine’s statement.

“I know Adrien better than anyone! How dare you act all high and mighty! Ask me anything about Adrien and I will answer it correctly!”

Ladybug heard her earrings beep. She was running out of time. She needed to keep Fandoom distracted. This seemed to be working, she needed to keep her from attacking, she decided to start taking a page out of Chat noir’s book and start talking.

“Okay, if you know him so well. Tell me what Adrien is like? Describe to me what you love about him? If you can describe what he is like correctly, I’ll surrender.”

Fandoom smirked. She felt that she had this in the bag. 

“Adrien is an incredible person. Always well behaved and the pinnacle of grace. He is confident and bold, truly someone worthy of admiration. He is handsome and socially savvy. To put it simply, he is perfect.”

Ladybug shook her head. She almost felt sorry for the disillusioned fan.

“You know nothing about him at all. Adrien is kind, so kind to a fault that he is willing to give even the meanest people a chance to change. Adrien is someone that wants to live a life filled with fun and friends, something he has been robbed of. He is someone that would go to great lengths to help out another friend without question. He is optimistic to the point of naive obliviousness. Adrien isn’t graceful when he isn’t a modeling, he is actually a bit clumsy and will make a cute joke when he trips. The real Adrien is trying his best to not hurt anyone’s feelings, he is so nervous about saying the wrong thing that he holds himself back. But when he knows something is wrong, when he thinks someone will get hurt, he won’t stop until he can make it right. He misunderstands social cues and he knows how to cheer people up. He is afraid of putting other people out, being stuck at home, and most of all losing those close to him. Adrien isn’t perfect, but he never needed to be. That’s what makes him so wonderful.” 

Ladybug didn’t expect to go on a tangent, realizing what she had said out loud. The heat must really be getting to her. She was thankful chat noir wasn’t nearby to hear that, it would have broken his heart.

Fandoom’s smile had faded. Her face was a cornucopia of emotions fighting for dominance.

“I am not saying you can’t be a fan of Adrien, but your feelings for him are for a perfect image that no person can truly be. No one is perfect, and that’s what makes people all the more interesting. How about we stop all of this? It’s what Adrien would want.”

Fandoom lowered her head, processing what Ladybug was saying.

A butterfly outline appeared over her face.

“You are falling for a trap Fandoom! She wants Adrien all to herself. She is trying to distract you. Ignore her words and focus.” Hawkmoth’s voice rang in her mind. The butterfly outline vanished after he said his piece.

Fandoom raised her head, her expression had stabilized into a stern look that seemed filled with murderous intent.

“It was foolish of me to think even for a moment… that you wouldn’t be trying to steal him as well.”

Ladybug felt her spine shiver as she said that. The heroine knew her words had fallen on deaf ears so blinded by her emotions, she wouldn’t listen.

Fandoom raised her head and a psychotic smile plastered her face.

“You don’t deserve to have Adrien. You deserve to be turned into firewood. But before that, I am going to take your miraculous!”

Chapter Text

Chat noir dashed across the studio halls, looking around for any sign of civilians. He was making his way to the one place he was certain someone would be, the green room where he had Marinette hide.

“Marinette! We need to leave! There’s a fire and…” He exclaimed after he broke down the door by charging through it.

He looked around and noticed how empty the room was.

“Marinette?” He walked inside and looked around for any sign of the designer. He felt his nerves twitch. Where was she? Was she okay? Was she hurt? Captured? WORSE?!

He forces himself to calm down, panicking would only make things worse.

“I know she wasn’t captured or that illusion wouldn’t have worked so well.” Chat noir reasoned with himself as he stroked his new mane as he reasoned. “Where could she be?”

He takes notice of the open vent.

“Of course! She used the vent to escape! Marinette is really clever. I never would have thought of that. She always seems to have the right idea at the right time.”

Chat noir managed to assure himself that Marinette would be fine.

Plus, Luka should be with her by now. They can watch out for each other.

The cat ignored the sudden hot flash of jealousy he felt from that thought of Luka and Marinette together.  He shook it off because now was not the time for that. He needed to makes sure they were okay.

Chat noir moved out of the room looking to follow the vents in order to locate the missing designer and musician. After that he would pick up the girl that was trapped in a closet.

“So where would they be by now.” He spoke aloud to himself trying to think.

His ears caught the sound of something akin to a crash of metal hitting the ground.

Call it luck or intuition, he decided to rush to where he heard that sound.

Don’t worry Marinette. I am on my way.

Lila nearly pissed herself from the surprise. She wasn’t expecting two teens to fall from above her and taking part of a ventilation shaft with them. She was almost crushed!

“What the Hell!?” Lila screamed in shock and anger.

The two fallen teens groaned as they stood up.

“I suppose the landing could have been better.” Kagami confessed, ignoring the terrified brunette they almost crushed.

“I wasn’t expecting you to use the foil to get us down. How did you even get through the…”

Before Luka could finish that statement, Lila interrupted them.

“Why were you two in the vent!? Why did you almost crush me to death?”

“We were escaping the knights. Figured the knights wouldn’t be able to get us in the vent. We heard your screams and came here.” Luka answered.

“We came here to rescue you, If you want to vent, you are going to have to wait until after we leave.” Kagami snapped.

“Did… did you just make a pun?” Lila asked in a mix of disbelief and disgust.

Kagami felt her defense mechanism kick in and she kept an emotionless expression.

“No.”

“You actually did. It was pretty clever. I think Chat noir would have loved it.”

Kagami felt a bit happy hearing the praise from the guitarist.

“Oh, well that is a compliment. Thank you.”

Lila began to feel like a third wheel and she was not going to have any of it.

“Okay you two. So how are you going to get me out of this closet? Or just flirt with each other?” Lila shifted the subject.

The two teens looked at the door and back at her.

“Did you try looking unlocking the door?”

“Door locks from the outside you idiots!”

“Why didn’t you use the spare key?” Luka inquired, pointing to a hook behind her head, showing a small key that looked like it would fit perfectly into the locked door.

Lila looked at the key and stared at it in silence.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

“You are not very aware of the things around you. Being so fixated on something can lead to you missing key details.” Kagami’s flat tone made Lila burn in both embarrassment and humiliation.

Luka smiled a bit as he noticed Kagami’s second pun, he decided to keep it to himself as the brunette was already very much irritated and he did not feel like worsening the headache she was giving him.

Lila ripped the keys off the hook. Heading right to the door, getting ready to unlock it.

“Let’s just get out of this room before I….”

Before Lila turned the knob, the door flew open and smacked her right on the nose.

“Have no fear I am here to save you!” A hero with a green mane-like hood busted through the door.

“Chat noir!” Kagami and Luka exclaim in relief.

Lila covered her face holding her now definitely broken nose.

“You, stupid mangy cat! You crushed my nose!” Lila nasally screamed.

Chat noir ignored the girl’s whines as he noticed a certain designer girl missing.

“Luka, where is Marinette?” The cat questioned.

“Um, Hello!? I am injured.” Lila interrupted before she was ignored.

“We heard from the minions that she escaped with Adrien. That’s why they all fled in a panic.” Luka explained.

“So, you didn’t see her in the green room?”

“No, she was gone by the time Kagami and I got there. She is with Adrien so I hope they both escaped the minions.”

Chat noir took a moment to process what Luka told him. He was referring to Rena Rouge’s illusions, that wasn’t the real Adrien or the real Marinette. Unfortunately, telling them that now would make Luka and Kagami worry and make it difficult for him to get him and everyone to safety. 

“They Did? And Marinette shoved me in a closet while she went off to go with Adrien!?” Lila hissed.

Luka looked at the angry brunette with confusion. Why would Marinette lock someone in a closet? It didn’t seem to make sense.

“While knowing you, I would assume you deserved it. You are not a good person.” Kagami pointed out.

Lila looked as if Kagami had smacked her in the back of the head.

“Enough, I am sure Marinette had a reason for putting you in here, but now is not the time for this. We need to get you all out of here. You can discuss this later.”

The cat hero looked at his baton, checking the time. He had left Ladybug two minutes ago, it would take him another two just to get this group to the roof where they can wait safely. Any longer would mean that Ladybug would detransform.

He could keep looking for Marinette, but that would slow them down and if Ladybug detransforms…

I am sorry Marinette. I promise I will stop this akuma. Chat noir thought to himself, he swore he would beat the akuma and ensure she would be fine.

Chat noir looked at the three.

“Okay you three, follow me. Let’s get you out of here.”

Beep beep

Another spot disappears from her earrings, she had maybe 3 minutes before she was going to Detransform.

The red clad heroine dodged a wild fire ball headed her way. She was completely on the defensive against this fiery foe.

Fandoom was firing blasts of flames that if Ladybug was even a second too slow, would result in a rather nasty burn.

“You can’t dodge forever! You will either be cooked by my flames or the smoke will get to you!” 

Ladybug knew she was right. The suit made her practically invulnerable to normal damage, but she was not resistant to the elements without the power ups. If she took a blast of fire, it may not be fatal, but it will hurt her bad. Too much and she will be a toasted bug. 

Ladybug tried to swing her yo-yo to something above to help her escape the blazing inferno that was Fandoom, but the hot headed akuma kept blasting anything she tried to get her yo-yo around.

Beep beep

Two minutes, the smoke was starting to make things harder to see, her lungs were starting to get heavy. 

“You are one stubborn bug, but in the end, you are just a girl that could never be deserving of my Adrien.” Fandoom taunted.

“Nope! Not this door!” Rena rogue exclaimed. “Any luck on your side?”

“Nothing, not a water valve to be found.” Carapace answered. “It’s kind of hard to see, though.”

The most of the flames had not yet reach the areas outside of the main studio stage, so the rest of the building was currently dark and much harder to see. Thankfully, Rena Rouge had night vision and was able to tell which rooms would be worth checking for the main water valve.

“Damn, where the heck could it be! If we don’t find it soon, this building is going to burn down!”

“It’s alright Rena, we will find it. We can’t get frantic. I am sure that if we keep looking we will find it. We just need to look harder.” The turtle hero assured.

The fox hero took a calming breath and regained her resolve.

“Alright then wonder turtle, time to stop the slow and steady pace and take a page out of the Hare’s book.” Rena bursted down the next hallway.  Carapace smiled as he watched his fox heroine girlfriend go off with confidence.

“No time to fall behind. Our friends are counting on us.” Carapace gave himself a bit of a pep talk before running after the quick footed fox.

“Alright, here are this will take you to the roof, you should be safe from the fire up there.” Chat noir assured.

He dropped Lila, who he had been holding in a fireman carry along with Luka on his other shoulder and Kagami holding his back. His enhanced strength and speed allowed him to rush through the hall faster carrying them then they could run. He put down the other two.

“You aren’t going to escort us out of the building?” Lila questioned.

“Just trust me, it’s safer up there and we are going to put out the fire once the akuma is taken care off. It beats being turned into one of Fandoom’s minions.”

“I wish we could help.” Luka commented.

“You have done more than enough. Focus on staying safe, that way the other heroes and I can help put an end to this. And I’m not just blowing smoke, we will get this villain to burn out.” Chat Noir gives a playful wink.

“Thank you for the rescue.” The fencer bowed.

“Good luck Chat noir. I know you and Ladybug can do it.” Luka assured.

Lila held her tongue. Part of her was still routing for the akuma to crush them.

Chat noir nodded before he immediately dashed back to the main studio area. Ladybug was fighting for her life. He hoped that Carapace and Rena rogue found the water valve and more importantly that he could get to Ladybug before her transformation.

Come on! Move faster! Marinette is in Danger, Ladybug is in danger. Two people you care about are in danger and you need to hurry! 

Chat noir felt his leg surge with energy and determination He needed to get back there and fight fandoom.

You need to save the woman you love! Hurry up!

Chat noir pushing himself as hard. He needed to move quicker. Time was against him. Unaware of which girl he was referring to in that last thought.

Beep beep

One minute left.

Ladybug could feel her body getting heavy, she was doing everything she could to stay alert and avoid the akuma’s onslaught.

Fandoom had noticed Ladybug’s faltering movements and began to grow ever more confident.

“You were talking such a big game earlier Ladybug. Hard to keep up a strong front when the truth keeps coming up. Your miraculous is as good as mine, and you will be finished.”

Ladybug swung her yo-yo and managed to nail the cocky akuma in the nose, causing her to stagger back. Ladybug took the opportunity to move.

She managed to get out of the fire ring and did her best to avoid the fire around her. a lot of random areas covered in flames and spreading. She focused on avoiding the flames and was so close to getting back stage when she turned to notice a fireball as large as she was heading right towards her. But before she could react, the last spot on her earrings vanished and her transformation released. She fell to the floor and saw the fireball coming towards her. It was over. 

Marinette could feel the heat of the Massive incoming fireball. It didn’t matter if the akuma could see her face or not, she was about to be incinerated. For the first time in a long time, the designer felt despair. She had failed, she had failed Paris. She failed Fu, she failed Alya and Nino, she failed Adrien, and she failed her partner. 

I am sorry everyone…  She closed her eyes and prepared for the inevitable.

But just before it made contact, a figure appeared in front of her, stopping the fireball.

“Well what do you know, I am fireproof.” The figure commented.

Marinette opened her eyes to see Chat noir, her crime fighting partner, back just in time. 

“Chat!” she exclaimed relieved. She took a moment to notice his new look. His costume looked to be made of a tougher material, his belt tail had a green fur fuzz akin to that of a lion tail. His head had a green mane like hood that seemed radiant in the fire. He really pulled it off.

Chat noir turned to her, his face showed relief. Marinette remembered that her transformation had dropped. It was over. Chat noir could see everything. He must know she is Ladybug.

“I am glad I found you Marinette. My lady must have escaped to go transform. Don’t worry, I will get you to safety. I promised I would.” Chat noir assured.

Marinette felt such relief come over her, she was thankful to have both her body and secret identity intact. Just so long as Fandoom doesn’t see.

“No, you don’t!” Fandoom roared as she tried to fire another blast. “She is not escaping.”

Char noir extended his staff and hit her with a large swing, knocking her into a bunch of crates, which were now on fire thanks to the impact.

Chat noir turned and picked up Marinette.

“Let’s get you out of here.”

Chat noir wasted no time moving Marinette, carrying her bridal style he moved her to a safe location.

“I can’t take you all the way there. Fandoom will be back up any second. Head to the roof. You will be safe up there.” Chat noir explained as he put her down.

Marinette hugged him.

“I knew you would protect me.” 

Chat noir felt his heart pound at her words. She let go and began to move.

The cat hero watched her for a brief moment before rushing back to face the akuma. Now he could fight without worry, now that Marinette was safe.

Fandoom had burst out of the boxes with an explosive fire. She was about to go hunting for the bug heroine.

Chat noir bursted in, catching her unaware.

“I believe you are Fur-getting something important?” The cat joked. he pounced on her. pinning her to the ground before she could react. His costume more than able to handle the powerful heat her costume was emitting.

“You know, the amount of people under my influence doesn’t just increase my fire power.”

Chat noir felt fandoom start to push him off of her. His eyes widen with realization as he knew what she was going to say.

“They also increased my physical power to.”

She shoved him hard enough to send him up in the air almost touching the ceiling. The cat quickly pulled out his baton and extended it downward, trying to hit the crazy fan akuma.

Fandoom rolled to the side to avoid the descending staff.

Chat noir could feel that even with the upgrade this was going to be a very tough fight.

Marinette made it safely to an area where the she could talk with Tikki.

“Do you think the Akuma saw?” Marinette questioned. Her hand covering her mouth as she got low to avoid the smoke.

“I believe your identity is safe. And Chat noir is under the impression that you were hiding. He just believes the akuma had found you as Marinette.”

“He really came through for me in the end, just like he always does.” Marinette smiled. “Also, that fire form really is amazing. I am kind of excited to see my form.”

“I am sure you will love it, but right now let’s focus on actually transforming and getting back to the fight. You can swoon over him later.”

“Right... Hey!”

Tikki chuckled for a bit watching the designer get flustered.

Marinette went into her bag and grabbed a red macaroon for Tikki to eat.

The ladybug Kwami began to transform. On her forehead was a blue flame, as well as a matching one on her backside akin to a bushy tail.

“Alright. Torch!Tikki Spots on!”

Marinette transformed into an altered form from her initial costume. She noticed the material on her costume was thicker and tougher. She gained a black hood that she could cover her head, she also took notice of how her legs, lower torso and forearms were now black as opposed to the normal ladybug print. Inside the hood was a smaller black mask that would allow her to cover her nose and mouth if needed. She noticed her feet had thinker material that made them feel like boots, she felt that they had much more grip and much easier to climb with if need be. She was pretty content with the massive improvements.

“Alright then fandoom. Time to fight Fire, with fire proof.”

Chat noir was put back on the defensive by the ferocious Fandoom. He was thankful that she was too busy using her flames to think about using the buttons on her pouch. 

The fire balls occasionally made contact, but Chat noir was able to resist the heat thanks to his suit. The attack would still push him back, and he needed to be sure that Fandoom didn’t get a hold on him, her insane physical strength was way more then he could handle alone. He was both impressed and not at all surprised Ladybug was able to hold off such a powerful foe without having the power up. The cat couldn’t help but admire how amazing his lady was.

“You both are so Irritating! Why must you get in the way of my love!?” Fandom screeched.

“Love? Don’t you think that’s a bit much? You hardly know the guy.” Chat noir eased.

“Don’t you start! Your stupid partner already tried to trick me with that same garbage! I know Adrien! I know everything about him!”

“How?”

Fandoom paused, feeling as if she had already come across this before.

“Excuse you?”

“I am going to assume you barely talked to him. You know of him sure, you may know all of his likes and dislikes, but do you know his personality?”

“What did I just say! You sound just like Ladybug.”

Chat noir felt his frustration with the akuma boil. He could feel he needed to get this off his chest.

“You don’t know his day to day struggles. You don’t know how hard he works to maintain an image. You don’t know how often he has to hold his tongue or go along with things he hates! Do you know what he thinks about? Have you held a true conversation with him? What you see at best is a mask, a facade. How can anyone truly love a person who you don’t truly know who… they … are…”

Chat noir felt his words hit something. Was his love of Ladybug like Fandoom’s love of him?

What if I am projecting onto ladybug what I want to see instead of who she actually is? Sure, Ladybug is brave and wonderful, I trust her with my life, but what do I truly know about her? There is a reason we have a secret identity, it isn’t like I can show exactly how I am while wearing this mask. No… there is more than that? Right?

A yo-yo wrapped around the cat hero and pulled him out of the way of a fiery blast.

“Not like you to be lost in thought kitty.” A Voice called out that Chat noir was happy to hear.

“Bugaboo! You made it.” Chat noir cheered. “And I love the look.” 

Ladybug smiled as she retracted the yo-yo.

“You aren’t the only one with a hot fashion change.” Ladybug responded. Her pun brought the cat back to his smiley self.

“A lovely way to express our fiery new costumes.” 

The two pulled up the part of their masks that covered their noses and mouths and got into a fighting stance.

Chat noir pushed his emotional crisis to the back of his head. He will deal with that doubt later. Right now, he needed to focus, beat Fandoom before Marinette gets hurt.

Fandoom glared at the two them. Her hands holding powerful flames. She would take them down, she would take their miraculous, and she would take Adrien.

The real fight starts now.

She banged on the doors to no avail. This entrance was blocked.

She needed to get in there, she needed to get to Vivi.

“Open please!” The Adri-knight pleaded. “Vivienne is going too far! She is in there alone. I need to help her.”

She had managed to get back to the studio but the entranceways were all blocked. The windows were too tough to break through brute force alone.

The was no way in.

She punched the door in frustration. There had to be some way inside.

She looked around, looking for anything that could help her get in.

She felt herself grow more worried and desperate. Paris was being burnt to the ground by Adri-knights. Is this really what Fandoom wanted? Was there some sort of way to reach her? To save her from herself.

She started to look up at the sky for some form of answer, when she noticed the one place likely unlocked.

The roof.

She was wearing armor, but she was confident in her ability to climb. Vivienne and her had scaled all sorts of structures to snag photos of celebrities for their meetings. This time there was an even greater reason for climbing, she was going to save Vivienne.

Chapter Text

“So, we are just supposed to stay up here!?” Lila questioned, her voice still nasally from the door.

“Chat noir insisted we would be safe up here so it is the best option to wait until the akuma is dealt with.” Luka reasoned.

“All the entrance ways are barricaded to keep the minions out, the most logical place to wait while avoiding the danger of the fire and minions is up here.” Kagami followed up, taking Luka’s side of this discussion.

“He couldn’t have helped us down from the roof? Maybe to another rooftop of a building that ISNT ON FIRE!”

“And you can see one from here?” Kagami gestured to the city.

“Yea! Any…. oh.”

The three teens could see the rampant fires that were prevalent as far as they could see. Buildings were burning, streets with an assortment of flames. The Adri-knights seemed more like Pyromaniacs.

“And what if Chat noir and Ladybug can’t deal with the akuma? Considering it enslaved a good chunk of Paris. Shouldn’t they have gotten some sort of allies or whatever?”

Kagami rolled her eyes. Lila did not understand how dangerous the situation is, that or she was more concerned with trying to be right that she failed to notice.

“It’s clear that you don’t really like Ladybug or Chat noir. Is there a reason behind that?” The musician inquired.

“What? That couldn’t be further from the truth. I like Chat Noir. He is a great hero, and it goes without saying what I think about Ladybug.”

Luka had been trying to get a read on the girl to try and understand her emotions. From what he can tell, she was hiding something, but he couldn’t tell exactly what. Kagami was far more direct.

“I have a better question, why exactly were you at the studio? You weren’t Knight-ified when you were in the closet. So why exactly would Marinette shove you in the closet?”

 Kagami’s eyes piercing look seemed to penetrate right into Lila’s mind. The fencer knew full well how manipulative this brunette could be, and Marinette maybe a bit clumsy, she wouldn’t lock someone in a closet without a good cause.

“We had gotten off on the wrong foot earlier in school and I wanted to fix things. Marinette did not take it well.” Lila twisted her words as to not outright lie. She never specified what she wanted to fixed.

“I don’t believe you.”

Lila turned her attention to the other teen. Luka, who had been quietly watching the two talk it out.

“You believe me, right?” 

Lila was doing her best to sell herself as innocent.

“I do not know you well enough to say that you are lying.” 

Lila mentally smirked at the comment but kept her sad innocent puppy look.

“But I know Marinette, and she certainly isn’t the type to do something like this without a reason. And considering Kagami doesn’t trust you either. I am going to go with you’re not being honest. Plus, something about you is off key, and it doesn’t sound right.”

Lila still maintained her wounded puppy look.

“How could you say that I am lying? I am being honest. What reason would I have to lie about being locked in the closet?”

“You could just be trying to get us to turn against Marinette.” Luka responded.

Both Luka and Kagami were in sync on their thoughts regarding the Italian exchange student. That she was not a good person.

“Well I assure you I…”

The sound of a metal clanking interrupted her statement.

“Did you hear that?” Luka questioned.

“It sounds like metal banging against something, and it’s getting louder. Do you think the minions got up here?” Kagami drawing her blade as she questioned.

“We are on the roof! This is a 4-story building and they’re wearing metal armor, how the heck would they even be able to get up here without getting in? You two don’t seriously think they could get up here.” Lila snapped. She dropped her faked wounded puppy act once she realized that they weren’t buying it.

As the metal clanking got louder, Lila felt her frustration fizzle out.

“It shouldn’t be feasible that they are able to climb up here… right?”

The three teens turned towards the sound to see a metal gauntlet appear at the edge of the roof.

Ladybug swung her. yo-yo at the feet of the fiery akuma. Fandoom jumped to avoid the yo-yo, she fired a fireball from her fingers which was blocked by Chat noir’s staff.

Frustrated, the akuma fired a volley of soccer ball sized flames from her hands.

Chat noir kept spinning his staff to block them all.

“So, Bugaboo, any idea on how to put out this firecracker? We do have innocent people on the roof and at the rate Fandoom is going, she might try to burn this whole building to the ground.” Chat noir kept focused on spinning his staff.

“We just need to hold out until Carapace and Rena Rouge find the main water valve. I’ll summon my lucky charm and then we can go from there.” Ladybug responded as she looked around the room. “I will try to catch her by surprise, maybe we won’t even need my lucky charm if we can get the drop on her. Think you can keep her distracted?”

“You know I can be very distracting when I want to be.” Chat noir winked.

The scarlet heroine rolled her eyes with an amused smile. Moving back from where the cat was to try and sneak behind her.

“Hey Hothead! I think you might be going about getting Adrien all wrong.” Chat noir’s words caused the akuma to stop.

“What makes you say that?”

“He is not really a fan of hot tempered people.”

 Fandoom felt steam come out of her ears. She shouted in anger before shooting out fire from her hands like a power flamethrower.

Chat noir stopped spinning his staff and jumped out of the way from the incoming stream of flames.

“That really got you hot under the collar!” 

Chat noir dodged again, a cocky smirk covered by the face mask.

“I would be Lion, if I said you didn’t just get burned by my amazing puns.”

“SHUT UP! I hate puns!” Fandoom roared.

“Ooooh, If the whole crazy fire villain thing didn’t ruin your chances with Adrien, that last one definitely did.”

“I will turn you into a burning fur ball you, mangy alley cat!”

Her hair began burning brighter and larger. 

Just before she was about to blast at the cat. A yo-yo wrapped around the akuma causing her to lose balance, and having her arms tied as she fell to the ground.

“Can’t have you burn my partner, he is a rare breed.” Ladybug chimed in.

Chat noir felt his cheeks hurt from smiling so hard at that fun word play.

“My Lady, I didn’t know I was so special.”

“You can gush after you snag the bag.”

Chat noir went toward the angry akuma to try and grab her bag, only for her to bust out and grab Chat noir.

“Chat!”

Fandoom pinned him to the ground.

“Got you now you, nasty cat.” Fandoom exclaimed.

A butterfly outline appeared on her face.

“Excellent Fandoom! Now take his ring.”

Fandoom smiled as the outline vanished.

“Time for you to get roasted, but first, I need to remove the unnecessary parts for the roast. Like your miraculous!” Fandoom giggled sinisterly.

Ladybug ran to tackle the akuma off of her partner, But, Fandoom took notice, firing a fireball right at her.

Ladybug covered her face with her arms as she was sent backwards by the blast.

Chat noir took the split second to shove the akuma off balance and escape her.

The cat retreated back to where Ladybug had ended up.

“Okay, so that didn’t work. She is way too strong to fight head on even when working together. It’s like fighting Stormy weather’s and Stone heart’s pyro baby. With just a hint of Zombizou.”

“Her fire keeps us at a distance, and if she gets a good grip on us it’s over.” Ladybug observed. “There needs to be some way to trip her up to get to that bag at her side.”

Chat noir looked at the burning area that was once the main studio area of the the talk show he was being interviewed on. It was only about an hour or two ago but it felt like it’s been weeks.

“Is it Lucky Charm time bugaboo?”

Ladybug took a moment to think. She took into account once the sprinklers were on the fire would go out and the light would vanish. Nino and Alya should have gotten to the valve by now, so using Lucky charm might be the perfect time.

“Yes, it is.”

Ladybug activated her power.

“Lucky charm”

A mysterious object fell from the air and landed in her hands. Upon closer inspection she realized what it was. It was a ladybug print fire blanket.

Ladybug looked around taking in the several things she needed to use her lucky charm. First are the sprinklers, second was chat noir, third was a rope… but there was something more to this one.

Something is missing… I don’t know what it is. It must appear after the sprinklers start. That’s the explanation.

“Okay, I think I know what to do, but we need to wait for Carapace and Rena Rouge to get the sprinklers on.”

“Well hopefully they get to it before the building is completely turned into a fire pit.”

“Don’t worry, I trust them. They probably have found the water valve by now.”

“Where is this stupid water valve!” Rena Rouge shouted in frustration. “You would think there would be a sign or something that would tell us where it is. But Nope! Nothing!”

“We gotta keeps searching Babe, we already covered half the building, we should be able to find it soon.” Carapace kept positive.

“The problem is every door looks the same, and now that the fire has broken out from the main area, everything now looks the same but with fire!”

Rena and carapace had continued checking every door they ran past to make sure not to miss the valve.

“The place should have a boiler room or something! Places this big should have a basement.”

Carapace stops in his tracks.

Rena hears the turtle’s quick stop and turns.

“Carapace?”

“I think you gave me an idea. Wayzz, Shell off.”

Rena rouge watched as Nino had dropped his hero transformation and a turtle creature popped out of his bracelet.

“Nino! What are you doing?”

“I agree with her, what is the idea?” The turtle commented.

“You Kwamis have all sorts of abilities right. Like phasing through walls and stuff, right? I think I saw you phase through a locker once.”

Wayzz pauses.

“Yes, we can phase through most objects at will.”

“Can you phase through the floor and see if there is a boiler room below?”

“That’s brilliant. Nice one dude.” Wayzz complimented, putting a weird yet charming pronunciation on the word ‘Dude’

Wayzz phased through the floor for a few moments. After a minute, he popped right up.

“20 meters on the right side you will find a staircase. The stairs will take you down. The main Water valve is labeled. Unfortunately, I couldn’t turn it myself.”

“Awesome job.” Rena Rouge complimented the turtle Kwami.

Wayzz bowed towards the fox heroine.

“Alright Wayzz, Shell on!”

Nino shifted back into his hero transformation and the two heroes made their move to the correct door.

“Smart call using Wayzz to guide us.” Rena rouge praised.

“I always use Wayzz when I have to go somewhere I don’t know how to get to.” The turtle hero joked, something that he swears Adrien is rubbing off on him.

Carapace smiled as he heard his girlfriend laugh at his joke. He could swear there was no sweeter sound the hearing that laugh.

Kagami, Luka and Lila watched as a single Adri-knight made it onto the roof.

Lila slowly backed away while Luka and Kagami got prepared to fight, the later drawing her foil.

“Must get to Vivi.” The minion exclaimed as her mind was clearly focused on that one task.

“You’re not interfering! Ladybug and Chat noir are taking care of your vile master.” Kagami pointed the foil at her.

The Adri-knight tightened her fist and went to reach for the small bag at her side. She would turn them into minions so they would stay out of her way.

But before she could, the fencer charged at her, forcing the minion to dodge.

Kagami continued her assault and the knight did her best to dodge and block the incoming attacks. The other two teens watching, Kagami had this match in the bag.

‘No! I can’t lose here! Vivi needs me! I need to help her! Come on Maggie, you have to get past the crazy fencer.

The knight managed to catch the foil with both hands.

“That’s enough of that.” Maggie stated fiercely. Her eyes glowing brightly with rage.

She didn’t expect to get put into a full nelson.

While the fencer had her distracted, one of the other teens managed to slip behind her and catch her off guard.

“Break the crest now.” The teen holding her back yelled as she struggled.

Kagami trusted her foil into the insignia and broke the crest, causing the armor to vanish.

Luka releases the former knight.

“Nicely done.”

“I appreciated the assist. She was making it harder than necessary.”

The two teens complimented each other, amazed on how easy it was to coordinate with one another.

“Ugh… my head.”

Kagami kneels down. “Are you alright? The de-knighting process can be a bit draining.”

“Im fine… just a bit of brain fuzz.” Maggie answered as her mind was reconstructing what happened.

“Did you handle it yet?” Lila’s voice called out. Clearly no intention of moving close.

“She isn’t a knight now, everything is fine.”

Lila stepped closer, relieved that the minion had been neutralized, until she recognized who it was.

Maggie’s eyes adjusted and landed right on the brunette. The girl’s confusion turned to rage.

“YOU! This is all your fault!” Maggie shot up from the ground and stormed over to Lila, who was backing away.

“Now now, I didn’t mean to cause any harm. I didn’t think your friend would go so ballistic over it.”

“Oh really? Cause from what I remember, you specifically made her cry and left us to deal with the aftermath. You and your damn list!”

“List?” 

Kagami and Luka kept their eyes on the now incredibly nervous Lila.

“The one for that new popular app, Soulmate Searcher. This girl showed a photo of Adrien’s list to my friend and she got her heart broken over it! This nasty brunette showed her the list knowing Vivi would get hurt by it.”

The two watching teens were hit with the startling realization. It explained why Fandoom was so obsessed with finding Adrien and burning Marinette, Lila was at the studio, most likely trying to talk with Marinette about the list. Kagami felt a burning rage, and couldn’t help but feel something very familiar with this situation.

“So that’s why you were in that closet! You knew there was an akuma after Marinette! I would have thrown you into a closet myself.” Kagami shouted.

Lila felt the color leave her face as she now had two angry girls glaring her.

“No! That isn’t… I was trying to... to warn her! But she wouldn’t listen.”

“That isn’t what you said earlier.” Luka pointed out. 

Maggie was about to approach more until she remembered why she was up there in the first place.

“Vivi! I need to get to my friend.”

Kagami’s anger ceased as the girl mentioned her friend.

“You mean the angry fire akuma that has been turning people into her knights?”

“She is a very emotional person, but she would never hurt anyone and only has been mad or sad for like… 30 seconds at a time. Hawkmoth is taking advantage of her. I need to help her remember who she is.

“The girl calls herself Adrienne, I don’t think she is stable.”

“Yea… she does go a bit far with new obsessions, back in her Jagged stone phase she called herself JV-enne for like a month. She just gets a bit too… passionate about things too quickly. I do need to talk to her about… Hey! Don’t act like this isn’t your fault. You are the one that caused all of this in the first place.”

“Her fangirl crush isn’t healthy, she should keep better control of her emotions.” Lila using this as a way to gain her nerve back.

Maggie glared at the nasty liar.

“When I get back, we are going to have some serious words.”

Maggie started to run to the stair case only to have Luka move between her and the door.

“It is way too dangerous in there. You can’t rush in, even if it is to save your friend. There is a fire spreading and the akuma is dangerous.” Luka informed the frantic teen.

“I don’t care! I need to get to Vivi! She is in danger and I need to save her from herself.”

“I know you care about your friend, but you can’t rush in. I am sure once Ladybug and chat noir beat the akuma.”

Maggie didn’t have the time to wait.

“If someone you cared about was still in there, would you be up here waiting patiently?”

Luka took a second to think about her words. 

“If Adrien or Marinette were still in there, we would do the same.” Kagami stated.

Luka knew the fencer was right. He conceded.

“We should come along to help you navigate.”

“We!?” Lila exclaimed in shock and horror.

“No thank you. You guys have already been through enough, and it will likely be harder to calm her down with more people. I will handle this myself. Besides, I don’t know if more knights will come here now and you two seem to be capable of handling them with ease.”

Kagami and Luka nod at one another. More minions would make things harder for Ladybug.

“Be careful.” Luka warned.

The bespectacled girl nodded and thanked him before running to the stair case.

Fandoom was furious!  Her mind was so focused on burning everything that got in her way, she just shouted as her fiery hair was flaring up higher and higher.

“Ladybug, Chat noir! “ 

Fandoom fired more flames in their direction, the duo split up to avoid the attack, one hero on each side.

Ladybug held the fire blanket in her hand and was ready to make a move when the time was right.

Fandoom took notice of the item. 

“It will take more than a blanket to best me.”

“My lady and I are putting you to bed.” Chat noir taunted.

Fandoom growled in annoyance ready to attack the cat, when as if on, the sprinklers activated.

“What the…?”

The sprinklers rained down a good amount of water, causing the massive flames that have been spreading to start shrinking. Fandoom felt the water pouring on top of her and it was causing her flaming hair to shrink.

“Ghhhhh!” She shrieked as she felt the water rain more on her head.

“Chat noir, now!”

“Chat noir runs to the rope that Ladybug had seen earlier as per her secret instruction. Noticing the distracted Fandom protectively clutching her bag, Chat noir quickly tied the rope to her leg, just barely avoiding an angry swipe from her now steaming hand.

Chat noir jumped back and moved to a nearby rope.

“Cataclysm.”

He lightly touched frayed greatly, causing it to slowly break. Ladybug insisted it shouldn’t snap right away, if it was the case, he would have just snapped it himself.

The sprinklers stopped after all of the flames went vanished, leaving a dark studio. Chat noir moved quietly to Ladybug as the sprinklers ceased.

“Everything is set.” Chat noir whispered.

Fandoom began trying to reignite but she was too soaked and her body was only generating a small flame.

“Had enough?” Ladybug asked with heroic confidence.

“I think we have this one Bugaboo, she is too soaked to smoke.” Chat noir commented.

Fandoom felt her despair and rage fill her body. She was so closed, Paris’ most influential fan club, Adrien arrested himself, all of her friends happy and in sync. She almost had it all. She Will have it.

Her hair ignited again. Burning bright and catching Ladybug and chat noir off guard as the sole light source in the room.

“Your little trick failed! You're done.” her body that was once soaked was now dry at the flames in her hair and the flames in her hands sprung back to life.

Ladybug knew the last piece of the puzzle was still missing, where was it, what was the thing she needed to make use of her lucky charm.

“I am getting your miraculous right now!”

The sound of boxes falling and splashing in the wet ground caught the attention of the akuma and the two heroes.

“Vivi, please stop this.” a voice called out, clearly tired from running.

Fandoom’s flaming fists turned off and the large blazing hair of Fandoom began to shrink.

“Mags?”

Ladybug and Chat Noir watched as a small teen walked into view of the flame. She was soaked from tripping, and she was shaking.

Ladybug realized what the missing piece was.

Chapter Text

“That takes care of the water valve.” Carapace stated with contentment.

“We should probably go check on the people on the roof. Chat noir did say he would rescue everyone still in the building.”

Rena Rouge nods.

“Then after they are in the clear we help out Ladybug. Sounds like a plan.”

The two quickly get out of the basement and head up the staircase, Rena Rouge taking point as Carapace can’t see in the dark.

“Might be better if you hold my hand handsome.” The fox heroine offered.

The turtle hero smiled as he took her hand as they began making their way to the roof as quickly as they could.

“Kagami, let’s be rational.” Lila said as she was backing away.

Kagami began to approach Lila, her fist tightened and ready to strike Lila right in her lying mouth.

“Oh, I am being pretty rational. You are the one that made the girl sad, resulting in her akumatization, you were the one that tried to get my friend killed, and you are the one that has done nothing but lie and cause trouble! Giving you a sound pummeling would be a pretty rational decision.” Kagami answered with a fierce look in her eyes.

Lila looked to Luka, who seemed to be looking at the sky and reclining.

“You are seriously going to let her attack me?”

 “You are assuming I could stop her even if I wanted to. I also don’t feel like getting involved. I am pretty sure you are an even worse than Bob Roth right now, and that’s saying something.” Luka responded. “So, I am just gonna stay back here.”

Lila could not believe the situation she was in. Ignoring the potential beating, Lila knew those two would cause some serious trouble if they got out and spoke. Thankfully Kagami didn’t even go to the same school as her so that shouldn’t be too much of an issue. The other teen she didn’t really know and/ or care about, the only question was what was his connection to Marinette. Should she be worried?

“You owe Marinette a serious apology, that girl you hurt an apology, and you owe Adrien an apology for dragging him into this whole scuffle.”

“I didn’t want all of this to happen. Do you think I want Paris to burn to the ground?”

“You are only saying that because you aren’t getting away with it.” 

Lila could feel the nervous sweat coming out. Kagami might kick her butt.

“OKAY! Okay you win.” Lila conceded.

Kagami ceased her movement.

“I’m sorry for causing this mess. I’ll apologize to everyone. I promise.” 

Lila lowered her head. Pretending to be serious.

Kagami’s raised fist lowered.

“Very well. Then I will end it here.”

“Thank you for your…”

“She is not being honest. I can hear it in her voice.” Luka chimed in.

Kagami raised her fist again.

“You tried to take advantage of my mercy.”

“Wait! He just said he wanted to beat me up along with you earlier. He is clearly biased.”

“I said I didn’t want to get involved, your acting is very convincing. But your tone is off. Your voice gives away the lie.”

Lila was going to rebut the claim but Kagami nailed Lila square in the gut with her fist, knocking the wind out of the brunette. She felt her knees buckle and dropped to the floor while holding her gut.

“That is a suitable compensation for your lie.” Kagami commented before walking back to where Luka was reclining. Leaving the brunette to hold her stomach in pain, and let her own anger burn.

“You’re such a crazy…”

“Is everyone alright up here.” a voice called out from the door way.

Lila managed to recover from the gut punch and quickly moved to where the direction of the voice was.

Carapace and Rena Rouge pushed through the door.

“Carapace! Rena Rouge!” Luka stated in relief. “You are here to?”

“Yea, Ladybug and chat noir needed a bit of back up, but they should be fine now that we handled the fire in the building.” Rena Rouge assured.

“Oh, Rena Rouge, Carapace! thank goodness!” Lila exclaimed in an over the top worried and scared tone. “You must protect me from these awful people.”

Lila placed her arms around the Turtle hero.

Rena Rouge looked at the brunette. Lila was in the building. Lila was at this studio. Why was Lila here? Why was she draping herself over HER boyfriend? Hero or not, this was not cool!

“What is going on?” The fox heroine questioned, doing her best not to let her anger at Lila show.

“They attacked me! Ever since Chat noir left, the two ganged up on me for no reason. I think they might be minions of the Akuma.” Lila lied.

Carapace removed Lila’s hands off of him. He saw Rena Rouge’s subtle death glare earlier. He is not risking that. Plus, he wasn’t thrilled with Lila at this moment either.

“She’s lying. We aren’t minions of the Akuma.” Kagami defended.

“Easy dude, we know you aren’t minions. You don’t have that weird armor. You are all in the clear.”

“So, she is lying.” Rena Rouge spoke, her words holding a surprising amount of contempt. Lila could feel a nervous chill go down her spine.

“Then they just attacked me out of malice!” Lila doubled down.

“Another lie. I punched her because she is responsible for the akuma.”

Rena Rouge and Carapace turned to the Brunette.

“Care to refute that?” 

“Lies! She is trying to justify violence against me.”

“She isn’t. One of the friends of the akuma victim was up here, she explained how Lila showed her friend a picture of Adrien Agreste’s list for that popular app.”

“Soulmate Searcher.” Carapace and Rena Rouge said in unison.

The two heroes knew immediately that the words were credible. Lila had lied to their faces before, but now they were reminded of her empty words from earlier that day. The duo was justifiably furious. The fox heroine appeared to be shaking in anger.

Carapace looked at Rena Rouge and could tell she was absolutely furious. Carapace quickly moved to her side and placed a calming hand on her shoulder.

“You are the one that caused all of this?”

Lila took a step back. She had never seen a heroine this angry since Ladybug.

“You put the lives of Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain Cheng in danger. Two innocent people. Do you have any idea how irresponsible and cruel that is?!”

Lila felt her legs wobble, but her quick tongue managed to fight back.

“How did you know Marinette was in Danger?”

“Because I talked with Ladybug and Chat noir who had to save her. Those crazy knights were after her. I had to create an elaborate illusion of the two running away just to get all of those minions out of the building.”

“Illusion? Then Marinette and Adrien are still in the building?” Kagami’s concern pierced through the tension.

“… You mean Chat noir didn’t bring them up here?”

Carapace and Rena Rouge turn to each other, Fear apparent in each other’s eyes.

“We will go make sure everything is alright. You 3 dudes stay up here until you see everything go back to normal.” Carapace eased.

“Wait, we want to help.” Kagami called out.

“Trust me, it will be best if you guys stay up here for a few minutes. It won’t be long.” Rena rouge assured.

Luka also looked like he was going to speak up, but he could tell that it would probably be best to listen since they don’t have costumes on.

Kagami’s declaration fizzled shortly after, no point in arguing with a superhero.

The two heroes casually strolled to the exit before sprinting immediately down the stairs. Their best friends were in danger and they needed to save them.

Lila felt the relief of having the superheroes leave. But there was a gnawing at the back of her mind that things were far worse for her then it seemed, she just hoped she could shake it off soon. Despite everything, things will work out for her like always… Right?

“Vivienne. You need to stop this.” Maggie pleaded to the powerful akuma.

Chat noir and Ladybug looked at the girl with surprise, how did she even manage to get in here? Was she here the whole time?

“Maggie? Why aren’t you wearing the button?”

“I was freed from your influence, which you need to get a handle on. Your knights are burning down all of Paris.”

“What!?” The two heroes shout in unison. 

Fandoom closed her eyes for a brief moment and looked through the eyes of one of her followers, then another, then another.

“Oh no… no no no.” Fandoom mouthed in horror. “Why are they doing this?!”

“Your thoughts. You were mentally screaming to burn everything.”

Fandoom took a step back.

“No... that can’t be true. I would never…”

a butterfly outline covered her face.

“She is trying to deceive you, trying to keep you away from your goal. Get the miraculous!” Hawkmoth’s voice cut through.

“But Maggie would never…”

Fandoom grabbed her head and began to scream. Hawkmoth was putting pressure on her to act.

“You WILL get me the miraculous!” Hawkmoth stated fiercely as he applied his power to force her to do his bidding. “You will attain your goal and you WILL not lose focus. Unless you want to lose your powers, your club, do you really want to be alone again?”

Ladybug saw the sway that this girl had on the akuma, there was no doubt that the lucky charm wasn’t wrong, this girl was the last piece she needed.

Ladybug moved towards Maggie.

“Here.” Ladybug wraps the girl in the fire blanket. “You are the only one that can get through to her. Get her to let you close, hug her, and hold on tight.” Ladybug informed her.

Maggie understood.

“Thank you, Ladybug.” The nervous girl whispered before cautiously approaching.

Fandoom stopped screaming.

“You’re right Hawkmoth, she is distracting me. I am so close to my goal.”

“Don’t listen to him Vivi! He is making you something you’re not!” Maggie took a step forward.

Fandoom prepared a fireball in her hand.

“Stand down Maggie, we are so close to achieving our dream. A city where everyone one is united under a banner of love and understanding. No more weird looks from people, no more cruel pranks, just a perfect place where everyone can be happy.”

“Vivi.”

“Its Fandoom! Why did you break away from our group? We were connected, we were so close!”

Ladybug looked to chat noir, who began to inch his way out of view carefully. He needed to be ready.

“I was freed from it, but even while in there, I saw what this akuma has been doing to you. You aren’t violent! You aren’t a dictator, you are a passionate person that has so much love to give and its being abused by someone with not love in his heart.” Maggie took a few steps closer.

Fandoom felt her arm shake.

“This is your warning Maggie, I will hit you with the fireball if you don’t …”

“The Vivienne I know has fought her way through a crowd of fangirls just to get my glasses back. The Vivi I know would do anything to protect those she cares about. I know she is in there. So Fandoom, I dare you to try.”

Maggie opened her arms wide, ready to hug her friend as she walked towards her.

Fandoom felt her arms shake, her aim was blurry. Could she really hurt Maggie? No… she couldn’t.

Maggie made it into her personal space, and the fiery hair of fandoom dimmed and the fireball in her hand dissipated.

“M-Maggie?” Fandoom’s powerful voice was replaced with a weak, scared girl who was scared out of her mind.

“Shhhh, it’s okay. I am here.”

She hugged the scared akuma. Her flames not hurting her friend thanks to the fire blanket.

The two embraced.

“I am so sorry!” Fandoom cried as tears turned to steam from her face.

Hawkmoth tried reigning her in but it wasn’t working.

The rope that chat noir had rotted with his cataclysm snapped and a wait dropped. Snagging Fandoom’s leg and pulling her as well as her friend into the air, making the bag she had at her side fly off to the ground.

Maggie realized what was happening and started to freak out. But the akumatized friend held her tightly.

“I’ve got you. Don’t worry.” Fandoom assured as she held her friend tightly.

Maggie smiled.

“I know you always do.”

Chat noir strolled over to where the bag was, using his claws to rip it. Breaking it and releasing the Akuma.

“No more evildoing for you evil Akuma.” Ladybug exclaimed.

Ladybug quickly snagged the black butterfly with her yo-yo and purified it.

“Bye Bye little butterfly.” She bid farewell to the white butterfly as it left.

Fandoom had returned back to her original state. The red head’s fiery hair turned back to long red hair that now fell downward.

“Well this was heartwarming.” Chat noir commented.

Ladybug rolled her eyes as she heard the pun, but an amused smile on her face.

“Pound it.” Ladybug and Chat noir stated in unison as they bumped fists.

Ladybug and chat noir quickly got the two down.

“I will need this back.” Ladybug said as she pointed to the fire blanket.

“Oh! Of course.” Maggie quickly hands the blanket back to the super heroine.

Ladybug throws the blanket into the air and activates her miraculous healing.

The city which was plagued with attacking knights and fires was quickly reverted back to how it was before. The minions now back to being normal civilians, and the fires gone. The studio around them was completely restored.

Hawkmoth roared in frustration.

“Another akuma snuffed out before they could get the miraculous.” Hawkmoth smacked his cane on the ground in frustration.

“Despite the failure, I do believe this might have been for the best. This Akuma did seem to be more trouble than it was worth.” Nathalie commented.

Hawkmoth sighed. He knew his assistant was correct.

“Perhaps you are right, but while the flames of ambition for one akuma have been blown out, I can still sense another one with anger and hostility. One that would make a wonderful akuma.”

“Miss Rossi, I assume?”

“Soon, but not yet. She has yet to reach her lowest point, but I can sense that it will be sooner then we think.”

The window of the layer closes.

“Ugh my head is killing me.” The red head held her head. “What happened?’

Maggie took her friends hand.

“You kind of went nuts and tried to marry Adrien Agreste, turn the whole city into your army of Adrien themed knights, and almost burned down the studio.”

Vivienne was mortified.

“I am really REALLY sorry! I hope no one got hurt over this.”

“Don’t worry, nothing we couldn’t handle. And all damage was fixed by miraculous healing. Hawkmoth is the one that akumatized you, so you shouldn’t blame yourself over this.” Ladybug assured. 

“Though… do try to ease up on the celebrity crushes in the future.” Chat noir half joked.

Vivienne looked at her friend, who gave her a knowing look that is saying “They are right” 

“I guess I do get carried away. I hope Adrien wasn’t hurt during this. I feel like I might have ruined his interview. I should apologize to him. if he even wants to see me after what happened.” 

“I am sure he doesn’t blame you for this. Just send him a fan letter apologizing.” Chat noir eased.

“Thank you both so much. Again, I am really sorry about all the trouble I’ve caused.” Vivienne lowered her head, practically bowing.

“Don’t worry about it, we are happy you are back to normal.” Ladybug assured.

“We should get back to the party. The others might start eating the cake without us.” Maggie pointed out.

The former akuma victim smiled at her friend.

“We can’t let that happen.”

The two started to run off, both smiling and happy that things were normal.

Bothe of their miraculous beep. They were low on time.

“Seems this will have to be a strictly business meeting for today.” Chat noir joked.

“Oh? No quips on how you would love to see me as a civilian?”

“While I would love to see it. Another time My lady. I have pressing matters to attend to.” Chat noir smiled, knowing she wasn’t serious.

“Ladybug! There are still more civil… oh. Everything is fixed.” Rena Rouge pauses.

Her and Carapace had rushed down to help finish the akuma.

“Sick Costumes.” Carapace comments.

“Thanks, they are sort of a rare treat.” Chat noir poses as he shows off the costume.

“Perfect timing you two. I think we should be heading off.” Ladybug states.

“But Marinette and Adrien aren’t up on the roof…”

“I’ll make sure they’re both okay. They should be fine now that the akuma is dealt with.” 

The fox heroine wanted to argue, but she knew Ladybug would need the miraculous back.

“Okay, but just be sure they are fine.”

“Promise.”

The three heroes wave before leaving the cat hero alone.

He took a moment to ensure he was alone and out of view of any cameras before releasing his transformation.

“Phew! That fire transformation really tuckers me out. I need cheese and a nap.” Plagg exclaimed, now back to his normal self.

“You always need cheese and a nap.”

“My point still stands.”

Adrien realized that Carapace and Rena Rouge were panicked that they couldn’t find Adrien and Marinette up on the roof. He could understand why Adrien wasn’t up there. but he lead Marinette to the staircase…

“I need to find Marinette!”

“Oh, worried about your….?” Plagg teased.

Adrien took off running. 

“Wait! At least let me tease you before you start running!” Plagg grumbled as he went after his chosen.

He starts making his way to search for the talented designer.

‘I dragged her into this mess! She almost got fried earlier because of me. She probably hates me for getting her caught up in all of this. I will apologize about everything once I am sure she is safe. Maybe she won’t hate me. I really hope she is okay.”

“I hope she is okay.” Adrien whispered to himself as he kept running.

“Thank you for all your help.” 

“Anytime Ladybug. We were happy to assist.” Nino answered as he handed over the turtle miraculous. 

The three had made their way to an abandoned alley way so that they would not be seen transforming.

Alya seemed to be more troubled out of her hero transformation.

“Is something wrong?” Ladybug questioned the ladyblogger.

“Lila Rossi! That’s what’s wrong!” Alya shouted in frustration.

“Alya, you shouldn’t be bothering Ladybug with….”

“No, Ladybug should hear this! There is this girl in my class who has been lying and misleading everyone, even tricking me up until recently! She was the reason the akuma even happened today! She is evil and sneaky, and I swear she is a second hawkmoth! My friend Marinette was put in danger because of her! I know heroes shouldn’t harm civilians, but Trixx knows I was tempted.” 

Ladybug blinked. She was doing her best not to react and screaming. ‘No s***.’ But she was happy to hear that Alya was completely on her side. Ladybug placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s okay. I will keep an eye on Lila. In the meantime, you should get some rest. Text your friend and see how she is. I am sure things will work out if you stay together.”

Alya smiled at the spotted heroine.

“Thanks Ladybug. You are the best.”

Ladybug smiled as she watched the two leave before quickly moving back to the studio.

She managed to sneak inside and undo her transformation just before it timed out.

“That goodbye really cut it close.” Tikki commented, her form now back to normal.

“Sorry Tikki. But I am glad that Alya and Nino aren’t fooled by Lila’s antics anymore. I guess I got a bit carried away listening.”

“You should probably hurry and find a realistic hiding spot. Chat noir did lead you to that staircase that went to the roof, Carapace and Rena Rouge mentioned you weren’t up there. That cat might be frantically looking for you.”

“Good point Tikki, I should hurry and find him.”

Marinette had Tikki fly into her bag before running as fast as she could to the stair case.

She was making it past the corner to the hall with the staircase when she collided with another figure. Knocking each other on to the ground.

“Sorry I didn’t ….”

Marinette lost her words as she realized the person she bumped into was a familiar blond model.

Adrien looked at her for a moment. 

The blond felt a wave of relief seeing her safe.

“Adrien! Thank goodness, you’re okay! I heard the akuma and…”

He hugged her suddenly. He held her tightly against him. The sudden motion interrupting the girl’s words.

“I am sorry that you were dragged into this mess.” Adrien apologized

“A-adrien. It’s fine. It wasn’t your fault. Akuma are a little….”

“I am so happy you are okay.” He whispered softly into her ear. “I thought I lost you.”

Marinette felt her face heat up, but decided to ease up and hold him tightly.

“We are both okay.”

Chapter Text

“Are you sure this is okay?” Luka asked.

“Of course, we saw Ladybug’s healing powers fix everything, therefore we should be able to go down the steps.” Kagami explained.

“I suppose you are right.”

“THATS WHAT YOU WERE ASKING ABOUT?!” 

Luka and Kagami were heading down the steps while Lila was being pulled by the end of her hair like a rope by the fencer.

“I am not even pulling, if you walked along side us, this wouldn’t even hurt.” Kagami answered. “You owe several people an apology and I intend on making you pay for it.”

The three teens made their way out of the staircase.

“Alright we should find…” Luka stopped speaking when he noticed Marinette and Adrien at the end of the hall.

“Find them where? What were you… oh.” 

The two teens stopped to see Marinette and Adrien in a soft embrace, both so relieved that the other was okay. The two seemed to be in their own little world.

Lila looked to see why her two ‘Captors’ had stopped moving only to see Adrien and Marinette closer together. She felt a pit in her stomach. Did this event make them grow closer? Lila wanted to barf in disgust.

Luka took a moment, processing the two’s closeness. He was glad they were okay, he wanted to talk with them. He took a step forward ready to call out, but he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“I think we should let them have their moment.”

The musician looked at Kagami, he smiled to hide his broken heart, he could tell she was feeling the same feeling as him.

Lila noticed Kagami’s grip on her hair loosen and she used it to escape.

The two heard the frantic steps moving away, they both turned to see Lila running away and quickly went out of view.

“Should we go after her?”

“No, she isn’t going to get away with what she did in the end.” 

The two teens nod in agreement as they begin walking to the exit.

“So… did you … want to get coffee or something? As thanks for your help today.” Luka inquired, he felt a bit awkward asking.

“I prefer juice actually.” Kagami mentioned.

“Juice then?”

“I know a place.”

Adrien did break the hug. Realizing how long he had actually been holding Marinette. His face as red as a rose.

“Sorry! I kind of got carried away there.”

“I didn’t mind… Nice was... It was nice.” Marinette corrected herself.

“Seems like the interview is pretty much scrapped.” Adrien changed the subject. “I will see if I can get a ride for us back now.”

“Okay, thank you.”

It was silent for a moment as Adrien messaged his bodyguard to come pick them up.

“Pretty lousy date huh?” 

“D-date?”

Adrien realized what word slipped out of his mouth. Marinette was practically a tomato

F***Ing damn it plagg! You got me saying it now! I am such an idiot. Adrien mentally slapped himself. I don’t want to freak her out. I need to play it off.

“You know, date. Like the day. An akuma attack on a Friday? Talk about a real joy kill.” Adrien tried to play off. Perfect

“Oh...” Marinette tried not to sound disappointed. “The Attack really did ruin your big interview.”

“This would be a lame date anyway taking you to an interview about me. Seems pretty narcissistic on my part if you think about it. If I was taking you on a date, maybe a movie or karaoke would be something better.”

“He he he, you make a good point.” Marinette played off his words with a smile, still bummed she got her hopes up.

“Though, I don’t really think you got a fun day out of this, considering the crazy akuma attack. How about I make it up to you?”

“Make it up to me?”

“Yea, since I invited you to this fiasco, you pick what we do next time. I’ll pay for anything if it costs money. Nothing is off the table. That is… if you want to.” Adrien offered.

Marientte processed what the blond was suggesting. Did he just give her permission to plan a date for them?

“Anything? Are you sure?”

“Absolutely… So long as I can clear it with my Father first.” Adrien explained, he did admit it felt kind of lame that he would need permission on this matter from his father.

“Okay. I will take you up on that. I am taking you for a whole day…. To hang out and stuff. Not like physically taking you.” Marinette flusteredly stumble at the end. “Well I mean I will be taking you to hang out in person so in that regard its physical but not in a…”

Adrien laughed at the girls cute rambling.

“Sounds like a plan, let me just check my schedule.”

Adrien smiled, happy with the idea. The model looks through his schedule. He noticed a rare blank spot in a calendar riddled with different activities, as if by some miracle, he was blessed with the upcoming Sunday.”

“Are you free for this Sunday?” 

“Sunday? Yes! Yea, I am free.” 

“Alright great, I am all yours on Sunday.” 

Marinette could swear she felt her heart explode in her chest.

Adrien’s phone buzzed.

“I believe that’s our ride. Shall we go?”

Marinette nodded as the two began making their way to the exit where Adrien’s bodyguard was waiting patiently for their return. 

Adrien sneaking a glance at her. The sweet smile on her face bringing some peace of mind. He thought about how he really loved seeing her smile.  He loved spending time with her.  Marinette was someone he was happy he knew

He couldn’t help but wonder if she felt the same. He really hopes she did.

“I was surprised that juice can be this good.” Luka commented as the two of them sat at a table outside.

“I found this place with Marinette a few weeks back. The orange carrot juice is the best. Helps with eye sight, or so they claim.” Kagami explained.

The musician takes a sip of his juice, he got an apple pear mix that sounded interesting. Its sweet and refreshing.

“Well it is a great place to find.” 

There was a quiet moment as they both tried to think of something to say. It was clear that both of them were not use to socializing much.

“I think I understand you better.” The fencer broke the silence. “I apologize about what I said about you earlier.”

“What do you mean?”

“I called you hesitant. I thought of you as a coward since you did not act on your chance to win over Marinette back at the ice rink.”

“Oh. Well its fine. I just thought back then was not the right time. Marinette was emotionally vulnerable and processing a lot of emotions…”

“Her feelings for Adrien?”

“Yea”

Kagami noticed the slight frown on his face.

“You have fallen for her?”

“Marinette is a wonderful, her thoughts are as clear as a music note. She is someone that I can’t help but be impressed by and admire.”

“You clearly understand your feelings and you seem to understand hers. You could be someone very good for her, but you have a fatal flaw.”

Luka blinked.

“What is that?”

“You’re too selfless.”

Luka raised an eyebrow.

“Too selfless? Are you saying I am too nice?”

“No, you are the adequate amount of kind. You are too willing to give up on what you desire for the feelings of others. It is true that acting too early may have stopped you from gaining Marinette’s affection. But your actions or lack thereof have let her fall right into Adrien’s arms. In this case, literally.”

“I did confess what I felt about her.”

“Did you proactively tell her or simply wait until she asked?”

“I confessed to her when I was akumatized. Then she asked me about it afterward and I told her.”

“And you asked her out?”

“…Not at that time?”

Kagami did not react, simply watching him.

“I see.”

Luka did his best not to react negatively. He admits that in hindsight, that his actions to win over Marinette were mainly passive, but that did not mean he was wrong for the way he acted. Marinette was still figuring things out, was it right for him to step in and confuse her more? Was it fair to her not to try harder to win her over?

“I suppose you confessed to Adrien then?”

“I have stated my interest in him. But he only sees me as a friend. He is in love with another girl which he refuses to let go of.”

“Ahh.”

“I thought it was Marinette. If the events of today showed anything I believe I am right.” Kagami said before taking a sip of her juice.

“It was Ladybug.”

Kagami spat out her juice in a sudden motion.

“Ladybug? The super heroine of Paris?! Are you certain?”

“I noticed a few things, and it only made sense.” Luka answered without revealing what he was aware of. “Though I think he is moving on to Marinette now. Maybe getting over his hero crush.”

Kagami coughed as she recovered.

“I was competing against Ladybug? I had no idea I had such competition. Marinette was already someone I felt was difficult enough to go against.”

“Seems we both had competition that was much higher up then we expected.”

The two teens reflected on their respective ‘Rival’ for their love interest. Kagami with Ladybug, and Luka with Adrien Agreste. Both of them wondering if things had changed after what they had seen.

“Do you think that Adrien and Marinette have both fallen for each other?”

“It’s hard to say. I couldn’t really get a read on Adrien recently. So, I couldn’t really tell you. Do you think so?”

Kagami thought about it for a moment, trying to think that maybe it wasn’t true. but she could see the way he held her. And her confidence that it wasn’t the case started to crumble.

“I want them to be happy. But is it wrong that I feel sad?” Kagami asked. She seemed so unsure for the first time that Luka had seen her.

“I think it’s alright to be sad. You have no regrets in your attempts. That’s more than I can say.”

Kagami looked at Luka and took a moment to analyze him. His face didn’t show his sorrow, but she could feel it. He felt the same way about all of this.

“At least, I have a friend that understands.”  Kagami stated, her face suddenly went red with embarrassment. 

Luka put a hand on her shoulder.

“I am glad to have a friend that understands too.”

The two teens felt a bit of happiness in this rather sullen time. perhaps things aren’t so bad, and they weren’t alone.

“Alya, Babe. You are scaring me a bit.” Nino stated as he watched his girlfriend frantically type on her laptop. “You haven’t stopped typing for the last 2 hours.”

Nino and Alya had headed to her place after the fight with Fandoom, and after a brief greeting with her older sister, Alya had opened her laptop and started typing like a maniac.

“I am almost done” Alya stated, her eyes not leaving the screen.

“You said that half an hour ago.”

“I am almost done for real.”

“Can you at least explain what you are typing?”

Alya stops. She pushes the laptop towards him.

“Why don’t you read and see for yourself.”

Nino takes a look at what she was writing. He realized exactly what it was.

“…Dude”

“Yup. You could say I felt inspired.”

“This is stuff from like… the first day Lila showed up.”

“Every single lie she has told that I could find, written down and debunked with cold hard evidence.” 

“How did you get all of this down?”

“A mix of my memories and Marinette’s recording. Lila has stacked a pile of Bull the size of the Eiffel Tower. Our class is gonna know about it.”

“You’re gonna send this out now?”

Alya shakes her head.

“Not yet, it’s far from perfect. I still have so much more detail to give to this. I also need to update the Ladyblog, take down those ‘true stories’ Lila gave me to post.”

“Well don’t go overboard. Also, you might want to answer your phone. It’s been going off non-stop for the last hour.”

Alya looks to her phone which was charging on her nightstand.

She gets up and walks over.

10 missed calls and 20 texts from Marinette.

“You might want to head off. I am gonna call Marinette and…”

Nino gives his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek.

“I gotcha. Text me when you are free.”

“Promise.”

Nino heads out of the room and closes the door behind him.

Alya waited until she was sure Nino was out of earshot before dialing the phone.

“Talk to me.”

“OMG Alya! I have a date with Adrien!”

“Wait what!? Explain everything.”

“Well that was quite a day you had Romeo.” Plagg stated as he helped himself to some Camembert.

They were back home after they had dropped off Marinette safely at her place. Adrien had headed up to his room, his mind clearly racing.

“Plagg… be honest with me. Do you think I should give up on Ladybug?”

The black cat Kwami stopped himself from taking a bite.

“Excuse me?”

Adrien was pacing past his bed, he looked antsy.

The cat blinked as he processed the boy’s question. Earlier, such a question would be considered as bad as blasphemy for the young model.

“You’re serious?”

Adrien wanted to answer but stopped himself from saying what he was initially going to say.

“Cat got your tongue?”

“It’s hard Plagg. I mean I know I said I would give it a try with Marinette, if the list said we were still on each other’s lists. But I think that isn’t the main reason I want to pursue this. Were my feelings for Ladybug so shallow before?”

“I think you are overreacting a bit.”

“I never thought I would have such a crisis over my feelings for Ladybug. But after that fight with Fandoom, I never thought what my feelings for Ladybug were actually based from. I just sort of jumped into it head first. And now that I am seeing Marinette in this new way… I just never would have thought I could like someone as much as I love Ladybug.”

“Adrien, are you saying you are in love Marinette?” A smug grin appearing on the Kwami’s face.

Adrien froze.

“Marinette is an incredible person. She is kind, creative, understanding, she goes to great lengths to help others no matter what. She is like an everyday superhero. She is incredibly selfless, to the point of letting me think a scarf she made for me on my birthday was from my Father. No one has ever gone to such lengths for me. Being around her… it makes me happy.”

“So, are you saying yes or no? Now is not the time to be so wishy washy.”

Adrien plops onto his bed.

“I don’t know Plagg! I just know I want to see her again, maybe I need to get some clarity on it. Maybe I am just overreacting. Or maybe I am not.”

“Then do it. Go see her now.”

“I can’t just show up at her door right after we just dropped her off at her place.”

“If Adrien showed up maybe. But what about a concerned cat hero that wanted to make sure the girl he saved from a fireball was completely fine?”

Adrien grabbed his Kwami and kissed his forehead.

“Plagg, you absolute genius.”

“Finally! Someone realizes it. And Tikki claims I only have camembert for brains.”

“Double camembert for you.”

“Nice!”

“Plagg Claws out!”

“…and that is pretty much everything.” Marinette exclaimed as she fell back on to her bed. She had explained to Alya everything that happened to her from the moment she got out of the car to the akuma attack (the parts where her actual self was involved with) to getting back home.

She was home now. She was up in her room safe and sound. After everything that happened today she thought she wouldn’t have an ounce of energy, but somehow knowing she has a date with Adrien on Sunday has revitalized her. 

“Wow, Girl! I am so happy for you! But you sure you are okay? The crazy akuma didn’t hurt you?”

“I am positive, Ladybug and Chat noir made sure I was safe and sound. Adrien was running to find me once the akuma was gone. Chat noir even said he had to promise Adrien he would keep me safe just to make sure Adrien stayed out of the fight. Adrien is so caring.” Marinette gushed.

“I am glad you are safe. Okay girl, so explain to me exactly what you mean by date. Like he asked you out on a date? Details on that part please!”

“Well… he didn’t exactly call it a date. But he did say that we could do anything I wanted on Sunday, to make up for everything that happened. Adrien blames himself for everything that went down, it wasn’t his fault, that naive beautiful boy. But he wants to make it up to me, so he said we could do whatever I wanted, just the two of us.” 

“I see, well still. You get two chances with Adrien. Hopefully no fangirls ruin the day for you this time.”

“I need to plan the most amazing spectacular day on Sunday. Maybe I can get him to see it as a date. A real date.”

Alya sighed with a smile on her face.

“Do you want my help with it? I can call the girls tomorrow and…”

“Actually…. I think I want to try this one on my own.”

“Oh?”

“I can’t call you and the girls over every time I want to do an activity with Adrien. I think I need to do this one on my own.”

“Girl, I am really proud of you. You will kill it on Sunday. I know you will.”

“Thanks, Alya.”

“Alright, but if you need emergency help with this, keep me posted. But I am an emergency call only for Sunday. This one is all you.”

“Understood. You are the best of best friends. I love you.”

“Love you too, get some rest. You really should take advantage of sleep while you can.”

“Okay, you should sleep too.”

“Yea… I am gonna stay up a bit longer. I am working on something for Monday.”

“Oh? School Project?”

“Something like that. It’s a social experiment. You will see how it all unfolds afterward. I think you will like it.”

“Sounds like it will be fun.”

“Oh, I can guarantee it will be very satisfying.”

“Alright, don’t stay up to late.”

“Goodnight Mari.”

“G’night Alya.”

Marinette ended the call and laid back on her bed.

“I don’t think I will be sleeping tonight Tikki. I have less then 48 hours to plan an amazing day with Adrien to make him fall in love with me.”

The red Kwami floated over her head.

“I wouldn’t worry too much Marinette. I am sure you will make a wonderful day for the two of you. Just remember to do things you both like. After all, this day is just as much about him as it is for you.”

“Thanks, Tikki.”

A tapping on her balcony door startled her.

“Hello?”

The tapping on the door stopped. The red Kwami quickly went to hide. Marinette got up from her bed to check what was going on. She looked at the window to see a familiar cat hero out her window. 

“Chat noir?!”

“Mind if I come in?”

Lila had practically sprinted home. The day had been rather hectic and all of the suffering she had to go through had drained her.

She walked in to find a message from her mom. She explained how she would be out late tonight. She left her food in the fridge if she was hungry. 

Lila moved past the kitchen and went straight to her room. Despite all of her efforts, Adrien only seemed to be growing closer with Marinette. The designer had only gotten bolder since the incident. But she knew that would change soon. Marinette didn’t have the recording of her anymore, and Lila still had the list. Marinette wouldn’t be able to fight back. Lila would wait until Monday before she enacted her payback. She had a threat to hold up. She would destroy Marinette’s social life. She would turn everyone against her. 

“Hope you enjoyed your fun, because I will knock you down and you will stay there for good.”

Chapter Text

Marinette rushed to her balcony getting up there just in time to see the cat hero of Paris jump and land perfectly on the banister railing of her patio.

“Good evening, Purrincess.” The cat greeted with a Cheshire grin on his face.

“Chat noir? What do I owe this unexpected visit?” Marinette asks with faux tone of shock and bewilderment.

He laughs at her over exaggeration.

“I came to tell you that your outfit today was Purrfect.” Chat noir exclaimed with an over the top purr.

Marinette rolled her eyes and smiled.

“You already mention that earlier. But since we aren’t in danger, I can say I am glad you liked my outfit. You did help inspire it.”

“I did, almost makes me wonder if you are still in love with me.” Chat noir mused.

“Sorry kitty, my heart has moved on.” Marinette used her forearm to cover her forehead as she tilted her head back in a dramatic pose.

“Oh well. You always were an emotionally strong individual. I’m sure Ladybug would be relieved to know she has one less rival to steal my affections.”

Chat noir smiling as he said that last joke. 

Marinette was relieved that they moved past that whole awkward ordeal back when her father got akumatized. Though she did feel kind of bad. The cat didn’t realize he technically rejected Ladybug for Ladybug. The day the reveal happens will be interesting if he remembers that.

“The main reason I came by was to check on you. I wanted to make sure you were okay after everything that happened today.”

“Oh. How nice of you. As you can see, I am quite alright. Not the first time I have been that close to an akuma.” Marinette assured. “I have a friend that runs the Ladyblog, I can handle being in the front lines sometimes.”

The cat’s large grin faltered.

“I am sorry I couldn’t have done a better job protecting you.” His tone sounded sullener than before. “You almost got turned into ashes because of me.”

“What? You did great! You saved me from danger twice! I would say that is A+ superhero-ing.”

She gave him a hug.

“Thank you for saving me Chat noir.” She whispered softly. After which she released the hug.

His grin returned after hearing her words. The designer was glad she could return the smile.

“You are too kind. I apologize on not checking on you sooner. I planned to, but I was low on time and Adrien assured me he would make sure you were okay.”

Marinette felt her face heat up when the cat mentioned Adrien’s name.

“H-he did?”

“Yeah! He practically sprinted when I told him where you were. He was so relieved that we took down Fandoom. He did play a key role in stopping her. If he didn’t distract her while we barricaded the doors, fighting her and her minions would have been something.”

Chat noir noticed her smile as he told her this. The way the moonlight was shining on her, the way her eyes lit up. The cat could felt something warm in his chest as he took in that sight. He mentally told himself to stay focused.

“Thanks for telling me all of this. I am happy that you stopped by.” Marinette words danced joyously into his ears.

“No problem, it’s the least I could do. The akuma ruined your date.”

Damn it! I said it again! Wait, I am chat noir right now. So, I don’t need to correct it. Now I can see how she felt about it.

“It wasn’t really a date. I was just invited to go with him to the interview.” Marinette responded; her sweet tone sounded melancholy.

“Oh. Sorry for assuming. I just figured since you looked so nicely dressed, and with how worried he was… Nevermind, I made this awkward. Well hopefully you get a date with him next time if that is what you want.” Chat noir attempted to recover the verbal ball he dropped. Seems she didn’t think it was a date.

Marinette stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to respond.

“Well, you’re safe, so I think I will go and leave you…” The cat hero was preparing to bounce from the balcony.

“Wait.”

Marinette didn’t want the cat to leave on such an awkward note. She wanted to keep talking with him, even for a little bit. 

Chat noir stopped.

“He… Adrien wanted to make it up to me, since he blamed himself about the akuma attack even though it wasn’t his fault at all.”

“Oh? Sounds more like he wanted an excuse to ask you out.” Chat noir teased.

Marinette’s face went scarlet.

“He said we could hang out on Sunday. Whatever I wanted.”

“Oh nice, sounds like he wants to give you a fun day. Wanted to brag about it to me?”

Marinette leaned against the railing. 

She wanted to ask his opinion. She wanted to ask what she should do to let Adrien know that she likes him on Sunday. She managed to push the words out of her mouth.

“Do you have any suggestions?”

Chat noir paused.

Marinette was asking him for ideas for their ‘Date’ on Sunday. This was kind of cute. She had no idea she was asking the very same boy that she was going to hang out with. Not to mention that he has asked for her advice about dating in the past. But that was back with Kagami… he felt a pang of guilt hit him with that thought. He decided to deal with that nugget later. He should be a good friend and do the same.

“Oh? Why would you ask me?”

Marinette felt awkward asking him for advice. Sure, she saw chat noir as a friend, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty that she was asking the person that was in love with her hero self for advice on how to get another guy to like her. Would he still give it to her if he knew she was Ladybug?

“A smooth cat like yourself should know all the good places in Paris.” Marinette managed to say with a bit of a playful tone, trying to keep it light and friendly.

“Smooth? Ladybug would probably disagree with you on that.” The cat laughed. “Though are you sure you want to ask me? If you are just hanging out with him on Sunday. My advice might be steered more towards the romantic side rather than platonic.”

Marinette looked down for a moment. Chat noir decided to pounce on the moment.

“Unless of course, you want him to see it as something more than just a hangout.”

“I…. want him to see it as a …” Marinette whispered low enough that the cat missed that last part.

Chat noir raised an eyebrow as he moved his ear closer.

“I couldn’t quite hear that? Care to repeat it louder?”

“I want him to see it as a date!”

She quickly covered her mouth after her outburst. Her face was burning.

The cat felt his own face heat up. She wanted it to be a date. She wanted it to be a date! He couldn’t help the stupid grin on his face. Though part of him wanted to rip the grin off his face.

“Well, who am I to deny such a lovely girl’s request. I do know a place or two that might be a good way to set the ambiance right.”

Marinette smiled at the cat. It was really sweet of him to do this.

Gabriel Agreste sat at his desk, he had been looking through designs, most of which seemed subpar. 

He hasn’t really been coming up with new ideas lately, more focused on trying to come up with a method of capturing the miraculous. 

His assistant walked into the room with a cup of tea for him.

“Thank you, Nathalie. How are you feeling?” The Fashion mogul asked as he looked up at her.

“Better. It seems I am feeling more like my old self. Perhaps next attempt will be more successful, since you will have Mayura’s assistance.”

“No, it is far too risky to use the peacock yet. After that incident, you almost got captured by Queen bee. Should she have been smart enough to use her power at close range. Thankfully it seems Ladybug’s trust in her is nearly non-existent.” Gabriel stated sternly.

“How about we see where the cards lay before we are hasty. You mentioned earlier how Miss Rossi maybe a very powerful akuma candidate soon. She is effective on her own, but imagine if she had some assistance.”

Gabriel pondered his assistant’s suggestion.

“I suppose we will see when the moment is right. In the meantime, how is Adrien?”

“He is sound asleep in his room.”

“Good. Make sure he is up early for the photoshoot tomorrow.”

“That’s the one where we also planned on having Miss Rossi attend as a model yes?”

“That won’t do right now. Tell her we needed to reschedule. Make it a solo photo shoot.”

Gabriel couldn’t be having Lila in a good mood, not right now. Now when there was a potential Akuma in the works.

“Of course, sir.”

“Based on today’s events, it seems that Miss Rossi used that App to trigger the girl’s emotions. Did we confirm that Adrien does have an account?”

“I was able to have access to Adrien’s phone earlier today while updating his schedule. He does have the app on his phone. It required a password so I was unable to access the full contents of his list.”

“I see, I will talk with Adrien about this matter later. That will be all Nathalie.”

Nathalie was about to leave but stops.

“There is one more thing I needed to mention.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Adrien requested to keep the upcoming Sunday open.”

Gabriel paused for a moment.

“Did we have anything planned for that day?”

“Nothing appears on the schedule.”

The fashion mogul stroked his chin as he thought about it.

“Is he planning on going somewhere?”

“He requested the day for… I believe it would classify as ‘courting’”

Gabriel paused.

“Excuse me?”

“A date sir.”

“I don’t remember allowing him to pursue any form of Romantic relationships.”

“From the way Adrien asked, he seems to be using this day as a way to make amends with Miss Dupain-Cheng. After the incident with the interview and the akuma attack.” Nathalie explained.

Gabriel’s scowl lightened. He supposed he could do worse. He will be willing to at least talk this over.

“I see. Very well. I will talk with him about this request before his shoot tomorrow.”

“I will notify him of this in the morning. Have a good night.”

Nathalie left, leaving Gabriel alone in his office.

He turned to look at the painting of his beautiful wife. He looked upon the painting with longing. Part of him wondering if all of this he is trying is worth it to get her back. The doubt left his mind quickly, he remembered his reasoning behind this quest. He would get her back, regardless of cost. She would do the same for him.

They spent over an hour throwing around ideas. Chat noir had made sure to get off the railing so they could have a civil conversation. Marinette even brought tea and cookies to their ‘Strategy talk’. The blond had to admit it was a fun time.

“Well Marinette. I admit I am a little envious of Adrien, because this sounds like an amazing date.” Chat noir praised.

“You gave a lot of good suggestions, I will have to sort through what to actually do then. Not to mention my outfit.” 

“Oh? What are you going to wear? Another Chat noir inspired outfit I hope? Your last one was…”

“I know A-meow-zing.” Marinette interrupted with an eyeball.

“I was gonna say Paw-sitively Meowtiful. But yes.” 

“I have something in mind, but I think I should change it up. Don’t want Adrien to think I am more interested in Chat noir.”

“Maybe he is a fan?”

“He is more into Ladybug actually.”

“Who isn’t?” Chat noir sighed lovingly.

Marinette felt another pang of guilt over what she was doing. Chat noir, the boy who was in love with her Ladybug self, was unknowingly helping her win another boy over. 

“Just remember to do things you want to do. Don’t just do activities you think he will like. There is a give and take.”

“I will be sure to do so.”

Chat noir gave her an assuring smile.

“Well Princess, your knight will need to be heading off now. I wish you well on your quest to win over your prince. Don’t worry, he would have to be a complete idiot not to fall in love with you.”

Marinette laughed at the lame royalty joke.

Just before he left, he felt something soft touch his cheek briefly. His face warm up instantly.

“Thank you, Kitty. For everything.”

Chat noir felt like his heart skip a beat. She had kissed his cheek. He could still feel the gentle warmth. 

“Anytime Marinette.”

The cat took off leaving Marinette to watched him until he was out of sight.

“That went well.” Tikki commented as she popped into view. The red Kwami helping herself to a plate of left over cookies.

“Do you think it was okay for me to do that? Chat noir is in love with Ladybug, and he doesn’t know he is giving advice to me, who is Ladybug.” Marinette admitted.

Tikki couldn’t help but find the situation kind of hilarious. If only Marinette knew.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. I am sure the cat wouldn’t hold it against you.” Tikki assured. 

“Are you sure?”

“If it doesn’t work out, you can always just give him a Ladybug kiss. I am sure that would more than make up for it.”

“Tikki!”

“It will be fine Marinette. But in the meantime, you should get some rest. You have had a long day.”

Marinette yawns after Tikki suggested she sleep. The Ladybug Kwami did make a good suggestion.

“Okay, I think I will go to sleep. Tomorrow I have a lot to plan for.”

Marinette felt giddy as she made her way down from her balcony.

Tikki took a moment to look out over the balcony.

“I bet that stinky sock is having a field day with this.”

Chat noir snuck back into his room and undid the transformation. His cat Kwami began to stretch.

“Well that was something. Had a good time Romeo?”

Adrien walked to his bed and sat at the edge, He took out his phone and opened the Soulmate Searcher app on his phone. He looked at the list with Marinette’s name and picture at the top. He took a moment to process. How silly how this whole thing started because of a list. In hind sight this app wasn’t anything magical, it might be a decent compatibility tester, but he almost forgot about it in the grand scheme of things. 

He touched his cheek where the designer had lightly kissed his cheek. Her soft lips had graced his cheek. It wasn’t the first time it happened. He remembered how she thanked him on heroes’ day. He remembered the greeting she gave him when he visited for dinner with her family as Chat noir. He even remembered his prank gone wrong in the history museum, He thought she hated him after that, but somehow, she didn’t. He rubbed his cheek softly.

He could still see that soft smile she gave him, how she laughed at his jokes, how she always did nice things for him. Marinette was someone that had done so much for him, cared so much for him, even though she never really said it. Marinette was truly someone that gave her heart in everything she did.

“Adrien? You in there?”

These feelings for Marinette. They were so potent, so strong. It was turning his heart upside down. Seeing her now, this night, it only made that more apparent.

He knows he loves Ladybug, he knows she is the one he gave his heart to. But when he thinks of Marinette, part of him felt… unfaithful. He wants to go out to find Ladybug, reaffirm his feelings for her are true so that his heart can escape this duel.

But the other part of him, the one that’s voice grows stronger every time he sees Marinette, tells him to let Ladybug go. Was his love for Ladybug as true as he claimed? Would he have fallen for Marinette at all if it was? 

Ladybug is in love with someone else, yet he keeps hoping that she is somehow in denial and has feelings for him. What would that love even be like? Wouldn’t she just be humoring him so he could be a good partner? Was that the kind of love he wanted? 

Marinette wasn’t like that at all. Marinette, by some statistical miracle, liked him, not just Adrien but she had fallen for chat noir once too. Marinette, the girl he called an everyday Ladybug, but she was more than that. She was so much more than that. 

Images of Ladybug and Marinette alternating in his mind, memories and feelings being stirred as he processed everything. He felt his mind and heart coming to a rather powerful revelation. It seemed so clear to him once it all came together.

“ADRIEN!”

The loud voice of the Kwami rang in his ear and shook him back to reality.

“HUAH!” Adrien exclaimed in surprise.

“You were zoned out just sitting there. It was freaking me out.”

Adrien took a second to process everything. He managed to recover just as he looked at Plagg,

“I love her Plagg.”

“Ladybug? Yea I know. You wouldn’t stop talking about.”

“No Plagg. I wasn’t referring to Ladybug now.” Adrien’s voice shook as if he wasn’t even sure how that sentence came out of his mouth, but he knew it was true. He stood up, and made his way to the window which had the light of the moon shining through.

The cat Kwami looked perplexed.

“If you aren’t talking about Ladybug…”

Adrien turned to his Kwami companion. The cat could see tears in his eyes, clearly processing a lot of emotions.

“I am in love with Marinette.”

Chapter Text

Marinette awoke from her slumber early and well rested, two things she rarely ever does together.

She got up and went right to her notebook. Last night, she and Chat noir had been discussing ideas on what she should do with Adrien on Sunday. She felt inspired and managed to start to write down her amazing plan:

First step was breakfast at the bakery. Having freshly baked croissants for that boy to enjoy. It is well known how much he loves those. Having a nice time talking as they enjoy their breakfast.  

Second step, the Louvre. Nothing as wonderful as seeing all the glorious art and statues. She and Adrien have been there a bunch of times, but they never went together. She could see which pieces of art were his favorite, get a feel of what he likes.  

Third step, lunch at the park. Nothing too extravagant, they can buy a few sandwiches or something and enjoy the scenery.

Fourth step: Ice skating, Chat noir’s suggestion, something she admitted she wanted to do with just her and Adrien. It would be a good way to… change the memory of what happened there.

Fifth step: The Eiffel Tower. By this point in the day, the sun would be starting to set and it would be the perfect place to watch the sunset. A perfect way to end the day. That is where she was going to confess.

Marinette dropped her pen after she wrote that last part. ‘That was where she was going to confess to him.’

Tikki had woken up from her slumber and moved to Marinette’s desk, she read the plan that Marinette wrote out.

“Quite the planned-out day. I’m sure Adrien will love it” Tikki exclaimed. The spotted Kwami gave an assuring smile.

Marinette began to feel the sudden pressure she was putting on herself as she read it. It was written down, her plan, her intentions, everything.

“Can I really do this? The first three steps are doable, but to go ice skating just the two of us? And then confessing my feelings at the Eiffel Tower?! I am not sure I can do this after all...”

Tikki hugs her chosen’s cheek.

“I know you can do it Marinette. I have seen you grow not just as a hero, but as a person. Every obstacle you have faced has helped you get better. You have had a lot of trouble when dealing with your crush, I think we both are well aware of that. Before you couldn’t even say hello to him, but look how far you’ve come! Now you’re here, getting ready to romance him. You’re spectacular Marinette.”

“Yea… because of that app.” Marinette deadpanned.

New fears started circling, what if Adrien wasn’t actually interested in her? What if he finds these romantic gestures as off putting? He did mention that he wanted to try it out after everything was settled. Was this too soon.”

“Forget the app! Sure, it may have been a catalyst or the push you needed to get you both closer, but it’s just a bunch of ones and zeroes. You’re the one that can make that future real, or you can ignore it. You are Marinette, you are Ladybug, and you are Miraculous!”

“Thanks, Tikki, I really needed that encouragement.”

She patted the head of her sweet Kwami as she continued fine tuning her plan for tomorrow. The app wasn’t what mattered anymore. What mattered is that she put everything into this. She was going to confess, she was going to win his heart.

Prepare yourself Adrien Agreste. I am going to have you falling for me hard. Marinette thought to herself with Confidence.

I have fallen hard for Marinette Dupain Cheng.

The thought greeted him as he noticed light peering into the room from his window.

Adrien did not sleep a wink. Last night’s revelation hit him like a ton of bricks.

He was in love with Marinette.

The statement felt truer each passing second and it still hit as hard as it did that night.

For months, he had been so certain of his love for Ladybug, so certain that Ladybug was his soulmate, but then he sees Marinette in a different light for a few days, and he finds himself in love with her.

Could he even call his feelings for Ladybug love anymore? How could he fall in love with another girl if he was truly in love with Ladybug?

He knew he had felt doubts about loving Ladybug in the past, and recently after seeing that obsessive akuma. Did this mean that he was ready to give up on Ladybug?

His mental ramblings were interrupted when he heard the door open

Nathalie walked into his room to wake him up. Insisting he get ready to leave.

An early morning photoshoot, right I forgot about that. he thought as he sighed with disappointment

“Before we leave, your Father would like to talk with you.”

Adrien shot up.  Hearing those words.

This can’t be good.

Nathalie left the room to allow the blond time to get dressed.

After 20 minutes, he was out of his room, looking less like a dead body, and more like a well-groomed zombie. (at least from the bags under his eyes) but they will have ways of hiding that at the photo shoot.

Adrien walked to his Father’s office, pausing at the door for a moment before going in.

“You wanted to see me Father?” Adrien inquired nervously.

Gabriel looked up from his tablet. His expression was the ideal poker face. Adrien never could get a read on his father, only when he was frustrated, annoyed, or angry. He wasn’t sure which one of those three emotions he was.

“Have a seat.” Gabriel stated with little emotion.

Adrien could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, what did his father want with him? Did he mess up the interview?

“Nathalie informed me that you have a dating app on your phone.”

Adrien wanted to melt and sink through the floor.

“I…. I….”

“Soulmate Searcher? I believe that was the name of the app. Why would you have such an app on your phone?”

Gabriel’s eyes were focused on Adrien, He had his complete attention focused on his son. A rarity, and one Adrien did not want at this time.

“…I was told about it by some friends, it sounded like harmless fun.”

Gabriel stuck out his hand.

“Show me the app.” Gabriel commanded.

Adrien felt the color drain from his face as he complied.

After he opened it Gabriel saw the list. 

The room was dead silent as he looked through it. The man stopped when he saw the number one place on the list.

“Miss Dupain Cheng is on your list. And number one at that. How interesting.”

Adrien wished that someone would put him out of his misery.

Gabriel closed the app and handed it to his son.

“Is this App the reason why you have been so insistent on inviting her to the interview, as well as to accompany you tomorrow? Nathalie mentioned the idea of ‘Courting’.”

The last words felt so unnatural coming out of his father’s mouth.

“I invited Marinette to the interview because I thought she would get a lot out of seeing what it was like being interviewed. She is a talented designer, so I imagine she will have several in her future.” Adrien defended, though it wasn’t the entire truth, it was one of the main reasons. After his revelations last night, he can’t say that it was 100% the reason.

“I see. And for Sunday.”

“I wanted to make up for the incident she was dragged into during the akuma attack.” 

Gabriel processed what his son said. Not displaying a bit of emotion.

After what felt like an eternity, Gabriel spoke again.

“What are your feelings towards this girl?”

The question was so direct it practically shot the model through the head.

“She’s…someone I care a lot about.”

Gabriel kept looking.

“Is this care strictly platonic?”

Just say it is and you can get out of this. Besides, you’re in love with Ladybug. Marinette is just a friend. He knew his brain was trying to convince him to lie, especially since he couldn’t ignore the blatant lie in his mind that said Marinette was just a friend. After his emotional revelation from last night, he couldn’t ever think of saying that as the truth. His lack of sleep was a testament to it.

However, Adrien knew that lying was the best course of action. He would say it was platonic.

“No, they are not.” Adrien stated, his mouth completely ignoring what he was thinking of doing. He could feel his rational self, scream inside his mind.

“Ah well then we can put this behind us…. did you say no?”

“I did. I said they aren’t platonic.” Adrien didn’t even comprehend how he was saying this to his father of all people.

Gabriel looked at his son for a moment, taking in what his son just told him.

“I see.”

Gabriel stood up from his chair and walked to the painting of his wife, his back facing Adrien.

“You understand that there are people in this world that will take advantage of your feelings to get what they want. Miss Dupain Cheng is a designer, and you are my son, as my son you are related to a key player in the fashion industry…”

“Marinette would never do such a thing!” Adrien shouted. The blond was shocked that he managed to do that. He just shouted at his father.

Gabriel turned around.

“You truly believe that?”

The question hung in the air a moment. Adrien kept his eyes on his father.

 “How do you know that Marinette or any of your other friends aren’t just trying to take advantage of you? Your mother and I knew all too well how cruel the outside world is, people use each other for benefit. There is always a motive to others getting close to you, people always want something from you.” 

Gabriel turned around to look at his son, believing that his words must have kicked some sense into his naïve son, but was surprised to see his son’s unwavering stare.

Adrien took a deep calming breathe, looking at his father dead in the eye.

“People always want something from each other. Well I want something from Marinette.” Adrien stated firmly.

This caught his father’s attention.

“And what could she possibly offer you?”

“Love”

Gabriel looked at the boy with his eyes wide.

“Marinette has so much love and care for others. I want to feel that, and I want to give her as much love as she gives me… Should she want that.”

Adrien felt his heart pounding as he said that. He said he was in love with Marinette, he said it out loud and with such conviction to his Father!? He hasn’t even gone out on the date yet. But this must be what he wants, cause clearly if his brain was active right now it would have shut down this conversation from happening.

Gabriel turned back around, not showing his expression to his son.

“Very well. That will be all Adrien.”

“Does… this mean I can keep Sunday free?”

Gabriel didn’t answer for what seemed like an eternity.

“I am still skeptical of this arrangement… However, I will not forbid your outing with Miss Dupain Cheng. Let the outcome of this be a lesson for you. Now go to your photoshoot.”

Adrien took the moment to make his way to the door.

But before exiting, he turned to his father.

“Thank you, Father.” Adrien left and closed the door behind him

As soon as Adrien closed the door her felt the blood rush of emotional backlog rush to his brain and all of the synapses in his brain were firing one phrase. 

Holy shit.

He couldn’t believe what he said to his own father! He told him that he was in love with Marinette. Why did that feel so natural? Why couldn’t he just lie about his feelings? But here he is, yelling his feelings to his father of all people! 

Adrien walked slowly to the car waiting outside, still getting a handle on what exactly is going on with him. He only knew one thing was for certain. He was definitely in love with Marinette. 

As Adrien left, Gabriel felt a small smile appear on his face.

“Love. To go so far as to say that.”

Gabriel shook his head in amusement.

“You were right Emile, he does take after me. I can’t wait for you to see how much he has grown.”

“Rescheduled?! But I was told that this would be the day I would have a photoshoot with Adrien.” The brunette did her best not to overreact.

“I apologize for the sudden news Miss Rossi, but I was instructed by Mr.Agreste to change the date for you. We’ll keep in touch.”

Lila heard the phone hang up, she threw her phone onto her bed. She was looking forward to this photoshoot. Mr.Agreste and her had been on the same page when it came to Adrien. Why was he suddenly being more callous? Could it be that he thought her claims about the app were disconcerting?

Lila took a moment to breathe. 

This is fine. It is simply a rescheduling, not canceling. I will just need to be patient. Besides, this might be a blessing in disguise, this will give me time for planning on how to deal with Marinette.

Lila knew she needed to be careful now more than ever, she couldn’t let anyone else find out about her hatred of that baker brat. Adrien was already suspicious of her, and she just barely glossed over things with Alya and Nino. 

She thought about everything she could do to Marinette, but mentally began crossing out the ideas that would leave her vulnerable. She needed to be very careful.

Sure, she had that list that could theoretically put Marinette in a tight spot with Adrien fans, but that doesn’t really help because that would expose the truth to Adrien, Nino, and Alya, those three could ruin her reputation in class, and she wasn’t Famous enough where she doesn’t care about that stuff. Having Gabriel Agreste as an ally was her first step to achieving that status, at this point Adrien was just her ticket to achieving that. 

She felt inspiration strike. 

Instead of attacking Marinette directly, the best way to hurt her was by striking the people she cared about. Isolating her not by turning her friends against her, but by taking her friends away one by one. Bring them down, and when Marinette is vulnerable, she can strike.

Lila quickly moved to her laptop, she began typing up her plan. She knew Monday was going to be a great day for her.

“Monday is going to be the worst day of your life. Lila Rossi.” Alya spoke aloud as she smiled at her screen.

She hadn’t stopped working since she opened her laptop yesterday.

She had been looking through every bit of information she could on Lila Rossi.

Records, rumors, tall tales, lies, everything that had any information on Lila.

After writing down and citing sources on Every lie that she could find that Lila had told. She began diving in deeper.

The ladyblogger had managed to find her old school, the social media of some of her old classmates. She looked through every social media account of any student from her year she could find, not a single one of them was friends with Lila. That seemed odd, surely someone as charismatic as her could have had a cliqué or a group of followers… something.

She contacted a few of them, the stories they told Alya were something to behold. Even with a translator app that may have been maybe fifty percent accurate, Alya could tell that not a single person she talked to had something positive to say about the brunette. Some were very passionate in how much they disliked the girl, the term ‘Liar’ ‘Deceiver’ and a lot of less than friendly words popped up in these conversations. Kissing other girl’s boyfriends, framing innocent people for crimes, stealing test answers. Lila was practically Chloé but with good lying skills, and to even some extent worse.

“I can’t believe how much of a monster this girl is.” Alya said aloud.

She jotted it down into her notes. She still had more work to do, but she was a woman on a mission.

She was lied to, she was insulted, and this bitch had the audacity to threaten her best friend! Alya was going to deliver the truth about Lila Rossi, and it was gonna hit that girl harder than a cement truck.

Alya did make sure to take short breaks to calm herself, she was NOT risking an akuma attack because of this rat.

The reporter wanted nothing more than to tell her best friend about how right the girl was about Lila, but she decided that she would hold off.

“Marinette is preparing for her date tomorrow. The last thing she will want to think about is Lila. Besides, she will Love this surprise.” Alya told herself.

“Done.” Marinette exclaimed as she stretched and moved back from the mannequin in her room.

“Oh, wow Marinette, its beautiful. I am sure Adrien will love it.” Tikki assured.

“You think? I mean he really did like the chat noir themed outfit, but I am not sure how he will feel about this.”

“Marinette, I assure you it’s perfect.”

“I think you are right.  Everything will be great… if it goes according to plan.”

“You have planned for everything, Marinette, you even have a backup plan for your other back up plan. I think you are definitely prepared for tomorrow. You just need to sit back and relax.”

Marinette takes a calming breath.

A text on her phone catches her attention. It’s from Alya.

Girl, I can’t say anything and it is emotionally killing me inside that I’m not telling you something. But just know if Sunday somehow isn’t great which I doubt it because you’ll rock that date, Monday will be your new favorite day.

Marinette smiled at the text before responding.

Sounds like fun, can’t wait.

The designer remembered that she had sent something rather important to Alya. She quickly typed up a text asking for the audio file back.

Sure, no prob. I emailed it to you.

You are the best. : D

Marinette made sure to put that recording on her laptop and ensured she had multiple copies. She was not going to have Lila find some way to delete the evidence this time. She was so glad that she had Alya on her side.

After taking care of that crucial contingency measure, she was back to thinking about her day with Adrien tomorrow.

Marinette wondered if she should text Adrien, see how he is doing.

Tikki took notice of her chosen’s nervousness.

“You should go for it. You are seeing him tomorrow. Now would be a good time to check on him.” Tikki encouraged.

Marinette took a calming breath. She could do this.

She was typing up a text but paused when her phone pinged. Adrien had beaten her to the first text.

Chapter Text

Adrien put his phone on his bed after he had sent the text. The entire day had felt like a blur to him after his conversation with his father. He still couldn’t believe how everything turned out. He could visualize every detail of the conversation, he could even see the small ghost of a smile on his father’s face as he turned away and said he could go with Marinette. His father almost seemed… happy.

It felt so bizarre. The photoshoot was so typical it didn’t warrant any space in his memory bank. He did the poses, smiled the right type of smiles, and stood where he needed to stand. Part of him thought there would be some aspect of the photoshoot he was going to hate, something that would snap him to how cruel reality was, but it was pretty standard. After getting home and finishing his Chinese lesson, he sent out a text to Marinette. His Kwami looked at his phone.

“Ah yes, the typical ‘Hey’ greeting text. Way to really go for the gold with that one.”

“Oh, like you care! Besides, I don’t want to sound over excited yet. It is just a typical greeting. It isn’t like she is going to respond right a…”

He heard his phone ding.“…way”

Plagg looked at the Text.

“Hey with a smile emoji. Yeah, she is way too good for you.”

Adrien rolled his eyes at Plagg as he picked up the phone to text.

Wanted to see how you were? Still up for Tomorrow?

Adrien took a breath as he sent it. Watching his screen intently as he waited for her response.

Yea! 😊 . You are still free on Sunday, right?

Adrien smiled as he typed up his response.

My father somehow gave the okay 😌 . I am sure he thinks highly of you. I think I put in a good word for you.

Plagg looked at his message. Rolling his eyes.

“Not gonna mention the part where you confessed how madly in love you are with her? I bet she would love to hear that.” The cat Kwami quipped.

Adrien felt his face flush as his Kwami reminded him of his rather… emotional outburst.

Oh wow. Your dad thinks highly of me. Im glad that he said it was fine that we can go out on a Date. 😁

THAT DATE! AS IN TOMORROW. AUTOCORRECT IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTANCE! Lol

Adrien chuckled to himself. Marinette was adorable.

Marinette felt her brain steaming as she typed that correction as fast as she could. She really called it a date. She didn’t want to come out too strong. She hoped Adrien would simply ignore what she said and accept her autocorrect excuse.

Lol. Yea I am looking forward to it. 😄

Marinette sighed in relief. Looks like her catch up text worked. Another text from Adrien followed.

What time should I show up?

Marinette smiled. She knew she needed to be a bit bolder. So maybe she can flirt a little bit. She took a few minutes to gather her strength erasing and retyping texts until she finally captured one that she felt was right.

Come by around 8:30. And come hungry. 😉

She waited intently for his reply.

Cant wai t 😋 Though don’t mention it to my dad, he will flip if he finds out I am having baked goods for breakfast.

Our little secret.

Youre the best 😁

Marinette felt her cheeks heat up as she read his texts. She can picture his sunshine smile as he sends those cute smiley faces.

I try, looking forward to tomorrow.

Me too, I should be heading to be soon. Glad I could text you before tomorrow. Good night Marinette.

The designer felt herself smile as she read that text. He was going to be seeing her tomorrow. It still felt like a dream

Sweet dreams Adrien. 

Sweet dreams Marinette 

Marinette put her phone down and she flailed her arms around with joy.

“Tikki! It is really happening. I am going on a date with Adrien. Well he might not see it as a date right now, but he will by the end. It will be an amazing story to tell our future children. Oh Tikki! I can imagine telling it to Emma as a bed time story.” Marinette gushed as her mind drifted to show an older version of her tucking in a young blue-eyed blond-haired girl into a bed. Tikki giggled at how adorable her chosen was acting. Marinette’s excitement quickly shifted into the other extreme, Doubt.

“What if something goes wrong? What if I mess up the croissants! What if when we are at the park we get attacked by pigeons and he has an allergic reaction and dies? What if while ice skating I slip and one of the blades…”

“Easy there Marinette. Everything will go fine. Adrien wants to spend the whole day with you. You don’t need to go overboard on everything. You just need to focus on enjoying yourself.”

The ladybug Kwami assured the frantic Ladybug miraculous wielder with a hug for her cheek.

“Thanks, Tikki. You are right. I will have an amazing time tomorrow. I will show Adrien a confident and amazing Marinette, and he will fall in love with me.”

“Thats the spirit!”

“YEA!” Marinette shouted with joy and confidence.

“You should probably get some rest though.”

Marinette settled down.

“That would be a good idea.”

Adrien looked at the text conversation one more time before putting his phone down.

He took a second to ruminate in the warmth he was feeling. Texting Marinette made him feel happy. He could picture her face as she sent those texts making facial expressions similar to the little emojis she sent.

He covered his face with his hands as he felt too happy that tomorrow was still on. Plagg had been laying on the pillow next him while the sunshine teen had been texting Marinette. Watching as the boy went giddy from seeing her responses. Even the cat could tell he was a smitten kitten.

“Had fun texting your girlfriend?” Plagg teased.

Adrien removed the hands from his face and turned to Plagg.“Marinette isn’t my girlfriend….yet” Adrien responded, but whispered the last word that he hoped the Kwami didn’t catch.

“Yea, yea. I know she isn’t. But who knows. Maybe if this date goes well she will reveal how madly in love with you she has been but just couldn’t build up the nerve to tell you.”

Adrien chuckles.

“I wish. That would make things a lot easier.” Adrien sat up from his bed. “But she is most likely just exploring this because of the app. I mean, even though it isn’t true why I am pursuing it now, this thing did have quite an effect on both of us.”

“Which is why you are still filling it out every day even though you think it might be bull…”

“Yea…” Adrien interrupted by confirming Plagg’s statement. “Well maybe not that strongly, but it isn’t an instant soulmate finder.”

“Well it did its job well. It finally got you to realize you were in love with that baker girl.” 

Adrien shrugged at the comment. Plagg was right. This App did help him see Marinette in a new light, and when that happened. It was like a fully loaded truck hitting him in the heart. 

“So, Casanova will you be confessing your feelings for her at the end of this little date?”

The model pondered the question for a moment.

“Let’s see where it leads. If the moment is right. I will tell her how I feel.”

“Sounds reasonable.”

Adrien felt a sudden pit in his stomach.

“Plagg… what if Marinette doesn’t feel the same way. What if I do confess and she says no?”

“I think you should be more concerned about another option?”

“What other option.”

“What will you do if she says yes?”

Sunday morning came faster than Marinette could ever have hoped. The excited teen woke up at the right time. She did her morning routine and went down to the bakery to make those Croissants.

She felt herself confident that this would be her best batch to date. She was so excited she even managed to get down to the bakery before her father. She had prepped the dough the night before to ensure she could bake them fresh.

“Good morning my little Macaroon.” The large baker greeted his daughter just as she was putting the prepped pastry to bake.

Marinette turned to her father smiling sweetly as she closed the oven.

“Glad to see you up early. Would those Croissants happen to be for your guest coming later this morning?” Her dad asked with a knowing smile.

“Adrien will be here soon. I have timed everything so I can go get ready. If I am not down in time could you…”

“Don’t worry. You go get ready. I’ll have them out when they are at their freshest.” 

Marinette hugged her father.

“You’re the best Papa.”

Marinette dashed upstairs to her room, leaving the future of the carefully prepared baked goods in the capable hands of her baker dad.

“My little girl is growing up so fast.” Tom comments to himself as he goes about doing his morning routine to set up the bakery for opening.

“You look so pretty Marinette.” The Ladybug Kwami squeaked as she watched Marinette finish getting ready.

“You think Adrien will like it? It isn’t anything Chat noir themed.”

“I am sure you will knock the boy’s socks off!” Tikki Assured.

“The gloves just give an air of sophistication without coming off too snooty. And your hair looks so pretty. But I really love your Beret.” Tikki praised.

“I am glad to hear you say that. I made you one as well.” Marinette revealed a small little Kwami sized Beret. 

Tikki looked at the tiny hat with her eyes sparkling with glee. She immediately put it on.

“I love it!”

Tikki went to look in the mirror to admire her new look.

“Look at yourself Marinette you look so beautiful.”

Marinette took a moment took look in the mirror.

She looked at the long black skirt that she designed the went a little over her knees. She twirled lightly to watch as the skirt moved, she was proud of how she was able to how graceful it made her look, and how she was able to move in it. She was initially worried that the gloves might have been much but Tikki was right, the slick black gloves did go perfectly with her skirt and black Beret. Her light tan sweater was light and seemed to go nicely with her outfit. She had spent the most time deciding what hair style to go with. She decided to forgo the pigtails and have her hair sweep over her left shoulder. Parting her hair on the right and allowing her to balance her Beret perfectly on a slight angle. She gave another twirl and admired her brown boots which gave her an extra inch of height, which she may have done to be perfect kissing height, but she would never admit that, unless he asked.

(Art by @martasaur Do not steal, check out her blog.)

“I feel… pretty.” Marinette spoke. She still felt a bit nervous. This moment was becoming more real with each passing moment. Adrien was coming over here. 

“You are Beautiful Marinette. Say it with confidence.” Tikki encouraged.

“I am Pretty!” Marinette exclaimed.

“One more time!”

“I am Pretty!!”

“Yes! You are.”

Marinette hugged her Kwami.

“Thank you for all your support Tikki.”

Marinette began making her way downstairs, she wanted to be sure she was ready to meet Adrien. Though she was still feeling nervous. He was probably just fine. After all, this is just a hangout to him.

Adrien felt extremely nervous.

This was a date, Marinette saw it as a date, and he saw it as a date. The only thing is that she doesn’t know that he sees it that way.

Adrien sat in the car as his bodyguard was driving him to the bakery.

His father had informed Nathalie to let him know that while he did give permission for this to happen, his bodyguard must be able to see them and know his location at all times. Though, his bodyguard would not be crowding him, he was courteous enough to give him and Marinette space. He may have influenced the man’s decision with some limited-edition action figures, but that is their little secret.

He didn’t alter his wardrobe too much, after all, he isn’t supposed to know it is a date. But he did change his t-shirt for a nice polo shirt, changing his short sleeve over shirt for a light long sleeve version. He styled his hair a bit more, making it look a bit fluffier then it normally was. He also may have put on a bit too much of his cologne. (He was afraid he would of sweating through his deodorant and the camembert he keeps on him making him smell bad.

He looked at the calm gorilla of a man driving the car. The bodyguard kept quiet as usual as they approached the bakery.

Adrien got out of the car.

“Thank you.” He told his driver as the big behemoth of a man drove off to go find parking and wait for Adrien to come back out.

Adrien took a few steps up the door.

“Alright Prince Charming. Go in there and sweep her off her feet.” Plagg whispered from his jacket pocket.

Adrien opened the door and entered the Bakery.

“Hello Adrien. You are right on time.”

Adrien looked behind the counter to see the large jolly baker greet him.

“Good morning Mr.Dupain. Is Marinette here?”

The two heard the sound of footsteps from above and moving closer.

“That must be her now.”

Marinette rushed into the Room.

“Papa the Croi…”

“Don’t worry my little macaroon, I just took them out.” Tom assured. “Also, Adrien has arrived.”

Marinette looked towards Adrien. Tom decided to move to the back to give the two some privacy, where he noticed his wife who just so happen to already be there, watching the two teens. The two started to look busy as if they weren’t paying attention to the two as to not ruin the mood.

“H-Hey Adrien.” Marinette spoke with a nervous yet excited tone.

Adrien took a moment to process her outfit.

Oh no. She is absolutely stunning. Marinette is always cute but sweet Kwami she looks so pretty. She just has this allure I can’t put my head around. Wow her eyes seem so blue today, like a sunshine filled sky. Her hair is down. She always looks great with her hair down. She looks so…

“Adrien?” Marinette spoke up.

Crap you were so stunned by how absolutely beautiful she looks you haven’t responded to her. Quick! say something!”

“Pretty.”

Marinette felt her face heat up.

More words then that you blond goldfish! He mentally screamed at himself.

“You look very Lovely.  Is that a new design?” Adrien managed to recover.

“Oh! Yes, it is! Do you like it? I know it isn’t hero themed like the last one, but I figured I should wear something a bit more… it isn’t too much right?”

“I think it suits you perfectly.” Adrien assured.

Marinette was doing her best not to melt on the spot.

“Croissants!” Marinette shouted. “Croissants for breakfast. I insisted you would be taken care of. You didn’t eat breakfast, yet right?”

“I haven’t eaten yet. I was instructed that not to.” He gives her a wink.

Marinette moved towards one of the few tables in the bakery and motioned for him to sit.

The Blond moved to the table and took a seat. Marinette went behind the counter and took a few Croissants from the baking sheet. They had been cooling and were now at the ideal temperature for eating. She put the croissants onto a plate and placed the plate on a tray with several different jams to pair with the baked goods.

Marinette carried the tray over when just before she made it to the table she tripped.

Thankfully Adrien’s quick reflexes managed to catch her before she hit the ground and with his one free hand, catch the tray with the fresh baked goods without dropping them. Her beret falling to the floor.

“Phew, that was close. Are you alright Marinette?”

Marinette looked at the boy in complete awe.

Sweet Kwami he is perfect

Adrien mentally thanked his reflexes, he somehow managed save both Marinette and the the delicious breakfast.

“Yank thu. I mean Thank you!” Marinette stammered, she was clearly flustered and awestricken by the blond.

“I am glad you are alright.” Adrien smiled as he put the tray on the table gently.

Marinette moved back off of him. Her face red.

Adrien picked up her Beret. The floor was very clean so there was no concern of the hat being dirty. He put it on her head the way she was wearing it before.

“There you go. The hat really looks great on you.” Adrien complimented.

Marinette felt herself giggle at the compliment. She quickly managed to compose herself.

“How about we dig in?” Marinette insisted.

“Of course.”

He moved to where she was about to sit and pulled out the chair for her. Marinette felt herself smile at the polite gesture. Taking her seat, and watching as Adrien moved to sit down in his seat.

“Thank you for the food.”

Adrien took a bite of the freshly baked delight and felt his taste buds soaring. So many layers of buttery goodness. It was heaven for his taste buds! This was a bite without any sort of jam. He couldn’t wait to try it with the jams.

“It’s incredible. Your Dad really out did himself with these. I think this is the best I have ever had.” Adrien praised.

“Actually, I made this batch.” Marinette answered. Her cheeks burning from the compliment.

Adrien felt his eyes widen. He felt his smile grow. 

Did she make these just for me? 

Adrien could feel his heart cry out in absolute bliss. Marinette was too kind. It was as if he could taste the care she put into the buttery delight.

“Wow, I always knew you were great at baking, but these are even more incredible then any I have had ever.” Adrien lathered on more sweet praise.

“You mean it?”

“Absolutely.”

Adrien finished off the first Croissant. He wanted to savor it, but his stomach was craving it.

“Please, feel free to have more. I made a bunch.” Marinette insisted.

“Well will you be eating with me?” Adrien asked

Marinette felt her stomach growl before she could respond.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Marinette felt a bit of embarrassment, but he didn’t make a big deal out of it, so she will do her best not to either. She took a moment to remove her gloves and put them neatly to the side.

Adrien had unintentionally watched as she did so, the blond found the action oddly intriguing, but quickly shook his head and focused back on the food.

Marinette used her glove free hands to take a croissant. She took one of the spreading knives and picked the strawberry preserves.

“Oh, is strawberry jam the best way to eat it?”

Marinette paused at the question. Thinking for a moment.

“Well the best way to taste bread is to try it by itself first. But the best way to eat it is with a sweet fruit jam. I prefer strawberry, but my dad prefers Blueberry. My mom prefers it with a bit of apricot jam.” Marinette explained.

“I will try Strawberry then.”

After Marinette finished, she passed the small container of jam to Adrien. Who mimicked the way she spread her jam before taking a bite. The fruity goodness allowed for a new level of sweetness and brought the already heavenly experience to a new level.

Adrien ended up trying the other two jams but had to agree that Strawberry seemed to suit the breakfast the best.

“Wow, that was absolutely delicious.” Adrien concluded as he used a napkin to dab his lips, ensuring his face was clear of any food from his breakfast.

“I am amazed you ate 4 of them.” Marinette commented aloud. She quickly covered her mouth. “Sorry I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant that….”

Adrien chuckled.

“I rarely ever get to dig into food. My Father insists on a strict diet regime when I eat at home.

When I get a chance to eat delicious food outside of the house. I guess I can really pack it away.”

“I am glad you liked it.”

Adrien stood up.

“Alright. so, Marinette. Did you know what you wanted to do today?”

“Do? Oh Yes! I have a plan. If that’s alright with you?”

“Of course. I am down with whatever you want to do. I am all yours until sunset.” Adrien gave a playful wink.

The baker’s daughter could swear she felt her heart skip a beat at that.

“Well first how about we head off to the Louvre? Alix mentioned that they had updated some of the art galleries.”

“Sounds great.”

Marinette excitedly moved to the door.

Adrien moved towards the counter.

“It was a pleasure seeing you Mr.Dupain.” Adrien politely stated.

“It’s a pleasure to have you come by. Be sure to watch out for my little girl.”

“Papa!”

“What? Adrien is a gentleman. He should know to treat you with respect. Isn’t that right Adrien?”

“I wouldn’t dream of treating her with anything less.”

“Good boy. You kids have fun.”

Adrien and Marinette exited the bakery just as Adrien’s bodyguard came back around with the car.

Adrien opened the door for her.

“Ladies first.”

Marinette felt her nerves catch up to her. She held her smiled as she got into the car.

“Are you sure you want me to do this Alya?” the bespectacled teen inquired. “There is a 4.7% chance that I won’t be able to get into the records, not to mention this is not exactly legal. This is a massive invasion of Privacy.”

“Trust me Max, there is something I really need to confirm. I am not going to be digging into anything too deep. I just want to make sure that Lila’s Illnesses are consistent so we know how to help her out if they are legit.” The Ladyblogger explained.

Max did want to be a better friend to everyone in the class. If there was some way he could help Lila out, especially with all of her illnesses, it would be something he was sure she would appreciate.

“Okay, I am in. Now going into her medical history and…. There is nothing here. Hold on that can’t be right.”

Max started searching thoroughly through Lila’s digital file. There was no mention at all of her illness, not a word about her tinnitus. There wasn’t any mention of her more complex medical conditions. But what he did find was shocking. Suspension, detention, complaints by students and faculty. Lila was a serious problem.

“What is all of this?”

“I knew it!” Alya exclaimed. 

“What do you mean you knew it?”

“Okay so I haven’t been completely clear on the reasons why I needed you to hack into Lila’s old school’s private records. But since you are doing me this favor, I think you should see what I have been digging up.”

Alya pulled out a thumb drive and passed it to the robotic genius. He quickly put the it into his laptop and started looking through Alya’s research. Alya watched as the curious teen’s face turned to fury. 

“She has been lying to us the whole time?! Who else knows about this.”

“Adrien and Marinette have known for some time, but Nino and I didn’t come around to finding out the truth until recently.” 

Max continued to look through it.

“I knew her claims seemed highly improbable. There was a less then 0.0043% chance all of her claims were correct, and yet I completely bought them wholesale along with the rest of the class.”

“Hey, no need to beat yourself up over it, she tricked all of us.”

“I can’t believe she threatened Marinette like that. It is disgusting.” Max spat.

“Agreed. Say, would you like to help me make it up to Marinette?”

Max looked at Alya with an interested look.

“I am listening.”

The two had gone and seen every exhibit in the building. Each section they took on a new method of appreciating the art. In the portrait area, they discussed how many times the artist got up and tossed out the painting before settling on the final product.

“I say 22.”

“I say 8, Oil paints are expensive, especially back then.”

The two would get a laugh.

When they got to statues, Marinette suggested guessing which part of the statue took the longest to get right.

“The nose.” They said at the same time before giggling.

The duo had a wonderful time and found themselves invested in the newest addition to the building.

The Louvre had created a new exhibit to feature young artists that wanted to submit their work and show it off to the public. After having gone through the other areas of the Louvre, the two decided that this would be the best way to end their visit to this massive gallery of art and treat it a bit more seriously than they had been with the previous sections.

“Oh wow. Look at this piece.” Marinette exclaimed with wonder.

Adrien was not much of an artsy person, but even he had to admit that these artists had clear talent.

One piece that Marinette was looking at was a painting of the Arc de Triomphe.  Adrien could swear he could step into the painting and be right there.

“It looks so realistic.”

“Their brush work is incredible. You would think it was a photograph.”

Marinette looked to the next painting, pausing as she looked at it.

Adrien moved a bit to take a look at the next painting. It was a painting of Ladybug and Chat noir.

Adrien took a closer look, before turning red.

It was a painting of a certain photo. Adrien knew exactly of what it was. The mutual kiss he didn’t remember. The kiss that he and Ladybug shared sometime during the events of fighting the mind wiping akuma, Oblivio. The Artist captured the scene perfectly. He even captured the way their fingers intertwined when they kissed. Adrien remembered wanting nothing more than to remember it… but now he felt thankful he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to think of anyone else if he kissed someone like that and remembered it.

“Well… it certainly is detailed.” Adrien commented.

“...yea.”

Adrien took a moment, Marinette seemed uncomfortable looking at the photo. Though to be honest, looking at it reminded him of his feelings for Ladybug, something he would rather not think about right now. Perhaps she had some lingering embers for his cat hero persona. They were both on the same boat. They were trying to move on from feelings that won’t be returned. Well, Marinette’s feelings would be returned, at least if she does want to see him as more than just a friend after this date.

“I think that is enough art for now. How about we move on to the next activity.”

Marinette turned to him, her saddened expression shifted to something cheerier.

“Yea, lets head to the nearby park. It should be the perfect time for a walk. Maybe grab some lunch?”

“Sounds great.”

Marinette and Adrien began moving away from the painting, Adrien mentally telling himself not to look back at it. Marinette on the other hand looking back at the photo once again.

She imagined all of the times Chat noir helped her out, both as Marinette and as Ladybug. She could feel this pit in her stomach as she kept moving away. Chat noir was a great friend, it was going to hurt telling him that she has made progress with the boy she loves. 

I am sorry chat noir. I hope you do find someone better than me. You deserve someone that loves you as much as you loved me. Marinette thought to herself. She turned her head back and focused on moving to the exit. but she still felt that twinge of guilt.

Chapter Text

Marinette and Adrien found themselves sitting on a bench, holding the baguette sandwiches that they got from a nearby street vender. Marinette noticed that Adrien had not taken a bite of his food. He had been staring intently at the tantalizing street food.

“Is something wrong with your sandwich?” The designer innocently commented, wondering why Adrien hadn’t started eating.

Adrien slipped out of his trance and turned to Marinette.

“Oh sorry, I just got nervous for a second. Excluding ice cream… I never really ate food from a cart before.” Adrien confessed.

Marinette looked at the boy skeptically.

“You haven’t?”

“Well most of the stuff is fast food and high in calories so my father never really approved of it. And then back when my mother was…” Adrien stopped for a moment.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to have you recall anything…”

“Oh no, it’s nothing bad. My mom was also protective. Super keen on checking health ratings. She would insist that the carts couldn’t possibly be sanitary enough for consumption of meat and vegetable products. Which sucked, because I really wanted some. They always looked so good.” Adrien chuckled.

“Well, now is a good time to see for yourself.”

Adrien smiled as he lifted the food to his mouth. He was still nervous. Sure, he knew it was fine, but part of him, the part his parents raised made him skeptical.

Marinette noticed the boy struggling. She held in a giggle, it was adorable to see this side of Adrien. Even he can get nervous about little things.

Marinette casually grabbed his sandwich from his hands and took a bite. Adrien was surprised by how quick the dark-haired girl was able to move.

“It tastes pretty good. And it is perfectly safe.” Marinette says with a playful smile.

“You just did that to take a bite of my food.” Adrien pretends to be insulted.

“What? I would do no such thing!” Marinette cried out in mock hurt.

Adrien quickly snagged her sandwich and took a much larger bite.

“My food!”

“There now we are even.”

Marinette looked at Adrien with a knowing smile. Adrien noticed that he was able to finally try the street food that was moments ago, a wall he needed to overcome.

“Oh, wow this is really good.”

“Welcome to the world of flavor and enjoyment.”

Adrien turns to Marinette and flashes her a smile that she could swear could give her a heart attack.

“Thank you, Marinette.”

“Y-y-y-yelcome wou. Your comwel! You are welcome!” Marinette stumbled before covering her face.

Adrien chuckled slightly at the word stumble. Marinette was too adorable sometimes.

“Here’s your sandwich back.”

Marinette took her food back and handed his back.

The two are about to dig in when they both freeze.

Adrien can see the bite mark Marinette left, as well as a bit of her lip gloss on bite mark.

Marinette could see Adrien’s impressive bite had overtaken her previous progress made on the sandwich.

Both teens couldn’t help but think that the lips of the other were just on the food. 

They both shake their thoughts on that out of their heads before they take a bite. They were just going to ignore the butterflies in their stomach now as the thought of kissing was starting to sink its claws in.

The two quickly finished eating and Marinette shot up.

“How about we go for a walk? Nice calm walk around the park. Sun is shining and everything is so nice.”

“Sounds really nice. Good way to relax after that nice lunch.” Adrien agreed as he stood up.

“Shall we carouse the peaceful park Mademoiselle Marinette?” Adrien politely inquired with a slight bow, selling his over the top action.

“Why yes Monsieur Adrien, that sounds quite exquisite.”

The two laughed at the bit before starting their walk. Both of them hoping for two things.

The first was that they could keep this good atmosphere going for the rest of the day. And the second was that Hawkmoth would take a damn day off.

Lila walked up to the gate in front of Agreste Manor. Her eyes were filled with determination. Her fake smile hiding her malicious intent.

She had decided on her first action. Use the events of yesterday to have Adrien’s profile removed from that app. But this would be the stepping stone. The next step would be to drive home the terrible influence his friends are on him. Once she had Mr. Agreste agreeing with her statements and suggestions, she will accidentally comment how Adrien should go back to homeschooling, after all, less likely to be attacked by fans. Naturally, he would agree. She would fake how awful that would be if he did so, but that she understood why he would be protective. And from there, her connection with Gabriel would ensure only she had access to him. It was the perfect way of separating Marinette from the only person that knew of her antics, as well as ensured Adrien was under her thumb.

“Open up, its me.” Lila spoke to the voice box at the gate.

It was silent for a moment, but the gate opened.

Lila walked through the gate and entered the mansion. Nathalie stood in front of the steps.

“Good Afternoon Lila, you called stating you had important matters to talk with Mr. Agreste, correct?” The assistant greeted.

“Yes, where may I speak with him?” The brunette inquired. Her mind focused entirely on pushing her plan into action.

“He will be in his office. I will escort you there.” 

Nathalie lead the classmate of Adrien to Gabriel’s office. She motioned for Lila to stay put while she went in to check if it was a good time for her to enter.

After a few moments, Nathalie went back out and motioned for her to go in.

Lila walked into the office where Gabriel was standing, looking at his tablet before turning it off and to address the brunette. His expression stoic.

“Good afternoon Mr. Agreste. I am glad you were able to take time out of your schedule to talk with….”

“Cut the pleasantries, I want to know why you felt it so urgent to speak with me.” Gabriel stated, clearly irritated.

Lila cleared her throat to ease herself, she knew Gabriel was a cold person but she felt an unnatural chill when that occurred.

“I wanted to address the matter about your son. The last time we spoke I told you about that application, ‘Soulmate Searcher’?”

“Yes, I recall that conversation.”

“I can confirm he does indeed have an account. Not only that, but him having one resulted in it getting leaked, and a distraught fangirl saw it, resulting in that nasty akuma attack that put your son in danger on Friday.” Lila explained.

Gabriel looked at her, not saying a word, waiting for her to continue.

“It seems that your son having such an app is dangerous. I would recommend you have him delete it, for his own safety. The site’s privacy settings are far too lax and if you want an akumatized fan coming after your son every week, I would recommend getting rid of it as soon as possible.”

“Is that all?”

“N-not just that. I believe that his so called ‘Friends’ are becoming far too much of a negative influence. Especially the one, Marinette Dupain Cheng. She seems to inspire a lot of his rebellious and rather unbecoming actions. He even threatened me because of her, I was trying to defend myself against her horrible actions and he…” 

Lila covered her face and pretended to tear up. She put drops in her eyes and when she pulled her hands away it looked as if she was crying. The fashion mogul, however, did not even looked phased by the action.

“I did look into the app.”

Lila froze.

“Y-you did?”

“Yes, Nathalie informed me about all the important information regarding that app. It is nothing more than a second-rate personality quiz. Not to mention there are countless forums regarding my son having a ‘List’. So, the possibility that the actual list had been leaked is quite unlikely, and even if it had, there is no way to prove its legitimacy without incriminating evidence.”

Lila felt a chill go down her spine, but managed to keep up her act. She wiped her tears.

“But I know Adrien’s list could be leaked. I have seen his actual list.” Lila stated.

“I have seen it as well.”

Lila paused.

“You have?”

“Yes, I confirmed that my son did have the app. I had a proper talk with him about it. Which is why I also am under the impression you are greatly misinformed.”

Lila blinked.

“Misinformed about what?”

“About Miss Dupain Cheng.”

Lila felt her eye twitch.

“Mr. Agreste, how much do you know about Marinette?”

Gabriel felt a small smile creep onto his face, he turned to hide it.

“Daughter of the owners of the most renowned bakery in paris. The current Class Representative in Adrien’s class. She is a talented young designer who won my design contest recently and I had one of her pieces appear in my fashion show. Audrey Bourgeous herself liked the piece.”

Lila clenched her jaw to prevent herself from screaming. She was seething with envy.

“I had almost forgotten about her, until my son mentioned wanted to go to her birthday party a month or so back. And then she came up again in conversation again recently. My son has a habit of mentioning her.”

“In what… In what way was she mentioned.”

Gabriel could practically feel the negative emotions screaming out of her despite the teen doing her best not to show it.

“After the incident on Friday. Adrien felt that he was at fault for putting the young designer in danger. He requested a day free so that he could make it up to her.”

“…Come again.”

“I was apprehensive to this of course. Adrien being off on his own, this girl might be taking advantage of his kindness, he is my son, she might simply be trying to get to me through him.”

Lila felt herself sigh in relief.

“As always you are an impeccable judge of character. Marinette is…”

“Of course, after he confessed how in love with her he was I decided to allow it.”

Lila did a double take. She must have misheard that.

“I am sorry Mr. Agreste. I have Tinnitus, so I am a bit hard of hearing. I must have missed what you said.” 

Gabriel felt a sinister grin grown on his face.

Perfect, this is going far better than I could have expected. Now for the final push.

The fashion mogul quickly shifted back to his normal facial expression and turned around.

“I was just trailing off. Perhaps I am getting a bit sentimental. I was stating how I allowed my son to take the day after his surprisingly heartfelt confession of his love for the girl. I was floored when I heard him say it. I have never heard my son talk about anything or anyone with such passion. As his father, I had to simply accept his statement and give him my blessing to move forward with his pursuit. Only time will tell if it was a good idea. But I do have a rather high opinion of Miss Dupain Cheng, she is a talented and clever individual, sure having him fall for Kagami Tsurugi would have been preferable from a business standpoint, but I suppose his choice was still rather well made. Forgive me for getting a little off track, I believe you were saying something about her being a negative influence?” Gabriel had pretended to gush. 

Gabriel was not lying regarding his view on Marinette, he did believe her a capable individual, but to say he accepted Adrien’s confession immediately was a lie. He was quietly observing and should it go wrong, it will be a great moment for teaching a lesson, and should it work out, Gabriel can say that it would not be a bad thing.

“Yes! Marinette is an absolutely despicable lying cheat! She doesn’t create her own designs! She lies about everything she has ever said. She is clearly manipulating poor, sweet Adrien with her act! I for one promised to look out for Adrien and you said you would trust me to do so.”

Gabriel did his best to hide his contempt for the brunette. She still had her uses, and setting her off now would not be beneficial to his cause.

“I did say I would listen to your statements so long as you have Adrien’s interests at heart. I will be sure to investigate Marinette Dupain Cheng very thoroughly, should this develop further.”

Lila felt her frustration boil.

“Mr. Agreste. Please take me at my word. Marinette has gone to great lengths to hide her true nature; your investigation will likely come up short.”

“Are you suggesting my investigation is ineffective?”

Lila realized she had said something that could be interpreted as an insult.

“Of course not! All I was saying is that Marinette is very sneaky.”

“You’re assuming I lack the intelligence and resources to correctly investigate a teenager.”

Lila felt herself shiver in fear.

“No! I am doing no such thing!”

Gabriel could easily show the girl that he was well aware of her antics, her lies, he had a dossier 5 cm thick with details about her life. He had Nathalie look into everything regarding Lila before he decided on this little arrangement. Lila was perfect for causing trouble, she was quite a manipulative little liar. Lila was perfect for his work as Hawkmoth, but she was definitely someone that he would not trust around Adrien. Gabriel reasoned that her usefulness would help him get Emilie back and once that was finished he would dismiss her.

“Perhaps I should look into you Miss Rossi. A comparison to see which person I should believe.”

“That won’t be necessary. By all means, go an investigate Marinette. I am sure you will see why she is a bad influence.” Lila covered up her previous mistake from earlier.

“Glad we have come to an agreement. Now, is there anything else you need to inform me of?”

Lila looked as if she was going to say something, but decided to hold back.

“No sir, that was all I needed to say for today.”

Gabriel nods.

“Very well, I will expect you to meet with me after school tomorrow. We need to discuss the rescheduling of the photoshoot as well as discuss if there are any changes with Adrien after today.”

“Understood.”

“I also do not want you interfering with my son’s activities today. I would not want him to grow suspicious of our interactions. And as you know going against my suggestions will result in me canceling our arrangement. But you are already aware of that.”

Lila forced a smile. She had been planning to bolt out of the mansion and immediately put a stop to this little hang out. But now she can’t, she definitely can’t risk doing Anything today. 

“Of course, Mr. Agreste.”

“That will be all.”

Gabriel went to sit at his desk and Lila made her way out of the office.

Nathalie was waiting by the door as Lila exited and she quickly made her way out of the hall and outside the Agreste Estate.

Nathalie walked inside.

“It seems the talk went over well.”

“Miss Rossi is very close to the edge. I am sure seeing my son on Monday will be the exact push needed to have her ready for the akuma.” 

 “Have you given it much thought on my suggestion?”

Gabriel’s confident smile shrank at her question.

“I have, this will have to be the final time. You are aware that I will not condone use of the Peacock miraculous after this?”

“Yes, but after this, I believe the peacock will have served its purpose.”

Gabriel turned to the picture.

“Let us hope so.”

You can do this

Marinette thought to herself as she and Adrien took a stroll around the park. They were surrounded by a bunch of people, sitting on benches, kids playing football, couples on picnics, and so on. The park was peaceful and full of such a serene atmosphere of fun and peace, it was almost as if the day was begging for an akuma attack. Marinette prayed that the akuma would not make themselves seen today.

At this moment, Marinette was getting the nerve to take Adrien’s hand.

“Flowers for the young lady?”

A voice cut through Her thoughts and caught both her and Adrien completely off guard. An old man was standing in front of them, he was selling roses.

“Oh, I uhh”

“I’ll buy one.” Adrien speaks up.

The old man’s face lit up. He showed Adrien the selection of Roses he had.

Marinette noticed the man was carrying an assortment of different colored roses. Some were red, some pink, some were yellow, and so on. Marinette wondered if Adrien understood that each of those flowers had a different meaning. Not all roses are the same. This of course was the color difference having different meanings was common knowledge but not all of the meanings were clear to everyone. She didn’t expect Adrien to know all the intricacies of what each rose meant.

Now which rose conveys my feelings for Marinette perfectly? Adrien thought to himself as he looked at the flowers intently. Pink was nice and would go great with her outfit, going with Red would be accurate, but Marinette would just assume he picked red because it is obvious choice. He looked through, pretending to be casual. He looked at one and smiled. Perfect

“I’ll take this one.” Adrien picked the rose gently.

He gave the man a euro and the old man thanked the model for his business.

Adrien presented the rose to Marinette.

“Here, I think it suits you.” Adrien said with a smile.

“Thank you.” Marinette responded sweetly.

Marinette took the rose with a sweet smile and noticed its color immediately, her heart sank.

Yellow, friendship.

Marinette held her smile despite feeling disappointed, until she noticed the tips. The tips of the rose were not yellow but Red.

Marinette felt her heart twist, did this mean what she thought it meant? Could this Rose be expressing what he thinks? 

Yellow with red tips, Falling in love?!

Marinette felt her heart swimming at the thought that Adrien might be saying he was falling in love with her.

Adrien noticed Marinette’s perplexed look. Did she understand what the rose was saying? This was pretty subtle, what if she just thinks that the rose just means friendship because its mostly yellow? 

“Hey Adrien, do you know the meaning behind each rose’s color?” Marinette inquired as her eyes fixated on the rose.

“Well actually I…”

Suddenly Marinette’s phone alarm went off, catching the two by complete surprise.

Marinette quickly checks her phone.

“Oh! The ice rink! We should hurry.”

“No problem.” 

Adrien sent a quick text to his bodyguard who was parked outside of the park, waiting for Adrien to message him.

We need to be heading to the Ice rink next

The bodyguard set the gps for the address and drove to the entrance of the park where Adrien and Marinette walk out, meeting him just in time.

Lila wanted to scream. 

How could Mr. Agreste allow this to happen? Adrien shouldn’t be on a date with anyone! Unless it is her.

Lila would kill for an akuma to show up. She could conveniently pretend the akuma took advantage of her naive love or whatever bullshit it takes to make sure she could interfere with Marinette and Adrien’s little date. Not that she even knew where they were.

“This is so unfair!” Lila growled.

She looked around to see if maybe there was an akuma near her but nothing of the sort occurred.

Lila continued making her way back home. She decided that until an akuma decides to grace her presence, she will be using this time to plan for tomorrow. She now felt more incentive to obliterate that designer.

“Just you wait. Your time will come Mari-brat.”

“This was…. I don’t even know how to describe it.” Max stated with shock.

“Yeah, it is a lot to take in my dude. Soda?” Nino comforts the computer enthusiastic with a can of refreshing bubbly beverage.

“Yes please.” Max takes the can and opens it. Taking a sip.

“You can see why she is super bad news now.” Alya stated as she took a sip of her own soda.

“It’s just hard to believe, she was so… convincing.”

“She is a pretty face dude. Everyone wants to believe pretty people are always telling the truth. Can’t blame you for being distracted” 

Alya looks at Nino with her eyebrow raised.

“...Which is why I hang on every word that you say.” Nino assures.

“Is that the only reason?”

“And of course, because you are mega smart and crazy investigative on everything. You are totally awesome.”

Alya smiles.

“Okay, I will keep you.”

“a-hem.”

Nino and Alya turn their attention back to Max.

“This is a lot of information to process. Our classmates, nay, the entire school is being tricked by Lila. We can’t let her get away with her lies and blatant malicious actions.”

“Glad you’re on the same page as us. I have a plan that can put an end to her little charade once and for all. But we need your help.”

Max looked at the two other bespectacled teens. 

“What do you need me to do?”

Nino and Alya look at one another and share a smile.

“So, here’s what we need you to do.”

Chapter Text

“It is great seeing you both again.” A brown-haired man greeted as he greeted the two that arrived at the Ice Rink.

“It is nice seeing you to Philippe.” Adrien reciprocated. “Not that busy today?”

“The day is too perfect for people to want to Ice skate.”

“There aren’t many people today?” Marinette inquired.

“You two want to Skate today? How wonderful! I was worried that the Zamboni driver cleaned the ice for no one to enjoy. Quite fortunate for you both.” The man said with a wink.

“How about we get you both some skates…. or should I say three.” 

The brunette was looking up at the mountain of a man that was Adrien’s bodyguard.

“Oh, he is just watching over us. He will be sitting out. Unless you want to join us.”

The bodyguard that Adrien affectionately nicknamed ‘The gorilla’ shook his head.

“V-very well. Let’s get you those skates.”

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other and smiled as they followed the enthusiastic man in. 

“Okay, that should do it.” Max exclaimed as he finished typing on his key board. “Is everything set on your end Markov.”

Max turned to his robot best friend as the robot finished inputting the code.

“Affirmative. Everything is all set for the next stage.”

Max smiles before turning to the two other glasses wearing teens who were snoozing together. While sitting against a wall

“Wakey wakey.” Max exclaimed as he jostled them lightly.

The two shot awake.

“Huh wha?!”

“I finished setting everything up the way you requested.” Max explained.

Alya quickly shot up.

“Wait really? It’s all set.”

“That’s right, as soon as the first bell rings tomorrow morning, everyone in Françoise Dupont High School will be receiving your article on Lila Rossi. From students in our class to Mr.Damocles.” Max assured.

“Thats amazing.”

“I also took the liberty of including the parental contact list as well. Just to be sure everyone sees it.” Max adjusts his glasses, making a confident smirk.

Nino stretched.

“That is above and beyond my dude.” Nino gave the robot enthusiast an assuring thumbs up.

“Though I do worry of the potential consequences. Not on my end, since I used an encrypted server so no one should be able to trace it back to us. But more on the Akuma side. Hawkmoth might take advantage of Lila’s emotional distress.” Max commented.

It was Alya’s turn to look smug.

“That is where I got you covered. I have a notice set up on the Ladyblog that will be sent out just a bit before the first bell. It will alert Ladybug of the potential akuma victim before it happens. Which also helps in preventing Hawkmoth from getting his hands on that witch. No need to give her any fire power.” 

Nino and Max both looked stunned.

“Wow Babe, that is crazy scheming. You are crazy sneaky like a fox.”

“Oh, this is nothing! I plan on tearing Lila a new one at school tomorrow. No fake tears will get her out of this!” Alya exclaimed with Confidence. “Then I am gonna treat my best friend to all the ice cream she wants to show her how sorry I was with dropping the ball with Lila before.”

“I should do the same for Adrien. But he would probably decline, so I will make him a song list to express it.”

“Yes, very good.” Markov praised. “Though we are getting ahead of ourselves. This is a day away.”

“True, but we can’t help but be excited.” Alya admitted.

“I will be double checking the code with Markov, in the meantime, you two should get ready for tomorrow.” Max assured.

“Thanks again for all your help on this.”

“No problem, I don’t want any more of my friends and classmates getting tricked like this.”

Alya and nino made their way out of Max’s place and back to the street.

“It’s crazy how much dirt we managed to uncover. Lila really went to crazy lengths to make it so we wouldn’t find out the truth.”

“Let’s not give her that much credit, if she was better at hiding it, we wouldn’t have found anything incriminating against her.”

“Yea, but if it wasn’t for that recording, would we have even looked?”

Alya paused.

Nino had a good point. Lila was still a master manipulator. She could probably find some way to make this look like a slam piece with not substance. Even if it is heavily sourced. 

“Maybe we should do some digging around our School, I think we might find something to add to this karma sandwich that we’re gonna make Lila eat.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Alya smiled as she and her Dj boyfriend began making their way to the school grounds.

‘I hope Marinette is having a good time on her date. I just hope that Marinette is killing it with Adrien.

“Easy there Marinette. You are almost on the ice.” 

Adrien had put on his skates and pads with little effort and was waiting at the entrance to help Marinette into the rink. He learned how to tie his skates after the last time he was here. He even looked up a video on it to be sure he didn’t look foolish this time around.

“I remember getting on this a lot easier.” Marinette confessed.

Adrien took her hand and helped her get on the ice.

Marinette felt the sudden change in the floor beneath her, almost causing her to fall, but Adrien managed to keep her steady.

“No worries, I got you.” Adrien assured.

The designer smiled at the blond. Her cheeks a bit rosy from embarrassment and the boy’s kindness.

Adrien helps her move a bit to help her get a steady pace before letting go.

“There you go, I knew you could do it.” 

Marinette smiled.

“Just like riding a bike.”

The two skated around the ring, getting use to the ice rink and being the only two people inside.

Adrien looked around to notice his bodyguard was at the door, more transfixed on watching a soccer game on his phone then watching him, something he was very thankful for. He knew his bodyguard was protective, but it seems he knew when to give him space.

He also noticed Philippe talking to a short old man in a Hawaiian shirt that was likely the Zamboni driver. Adrien had the feeling he had seen the man before, 

Is that… no, it couldn’t be? Could it?

Adrien strained his eyes to get a better look but the lighting where the old man was made it hard to see his face. Adrien decided he would sneak a look later and if it was him, he would say hi, but probably when Marinette was not looking. Just to be safe. He doesn’t want to risk the guardian getting found again.

The blond turned his attention back to Marinette, the girl was having a good time, smiling now that she wasn’t afraid of falling on the ice. She really had a beautiful smile. She would be an amazing model, that was for sure. It helped give him the courage to make his move.

Marinette was enjoying the motion of gliding on the ice. She felt as though Adrien and her were the only two people in the room. She felt her pulse quicken as she saw him looking as he took her hands. She could feel the warmth of his hands even with her gloves.

“Adrien?”

“Just relax, and focus on me.” Adrien gave a reassuring smile.

The designer could swear she would melt despite how cold they kept it in the ice rink.

“It is nice to see some people still interested in ice skating.” Philippe commented

“Those two seem to be having fun.” The old man stated with a smile. “Both look to have great chemistry.”

“Maybe I should ask if they are willing to join my lessons now, couple’s lessons are popular and if I use that as a hook they might be more accepting…”

“I think you should let the two be for now. I am sure they want to enjoy their time.”

The ice skater looked at the two as the blond teen took the dark-haired girl’s hand and the duo started skating. Both of them slowly growing more comfortable.

“I suppose you’re right. Oh, let me pay you for your work this…”

The old man sticks out his hand to stop the brown-haired man from digging into his pocket.

“How about as my payment, we go about helping those two have a memorable time?”

“My, an old softie, aren’t we? Do you have something in mind?”

“Does this place have a spot light?”

Philipe smiled.

“Yes, it does.”

Adrien and Marinette made their way to the center of the Ice Rink. Marinette was a bit nervous moving from the walls.

“No worries, I got you.” Adrien assured.

The girl smiled sweetly as he let those words reverberate in her mind.

The lights around them went dim.

“What the…?”

“Hey!”

A spotlight suddenly shined on the two of them.

The two paused to avoid being blinded.

“A spotlight? Marinette did you plan this?” Adrien inquired.

“N-N-NO! I didn’t even know there were spotlights in here.”

Adrien felt an idea pop into his head.

“Well, we shouldn’t waste a good spotlight. How about we kick it up a notch.”

“What? Wait, I am not the best skater! I don’t think I can do…”

“Do you trust me?”

The question cut through Marinette’s weak defense.

The Blue-eyed teen felt her his eyes on her. His look of confidence and support made her feel like she could do this.

She had seen that look so many times before. It felt so familiar. The look of unyielding support, powerful determination, and unwavering care.

Just like my Chat Noir.

Marinette felt that thought strike her, lingering as she gripped his hand a bit tighter. She returned the look to Adrien.

“I trust you.”

(AN: I was listening to (this) when I wrote this scene. It might help with the immersion, completely optional.)

They had no routine planed, neither of them were expert skaters, but something compelled them to move.

It started off simple. They skated slowly, moving to the wall as the spot light followed. Before reaching the end of the rink they moved left, gliding across the ice on one blade while using each other to balance.

After gliding for a brief moment, Adrien put his leg down and turned in front of Marinette, moving backwards as he took her other hand. He smiles as he moved one hand to his shoulder and held tightly to the other. He had turn this simple skate into a waltz.

The act of dancing seemed so fluid on the ice, Marinette and Adrien focused on the other while they kept up their movements. Marinette met Adrien’s gaze as they skated and moved more towards the center.

Back in the middle, Marinette decided it was time to make her move. She moved his hand that was holding hers to her back, and moved her hand to his neck.

The blond was surprised by the boldness of the designer. Her eyes seemed to glisten in the spotlight. He felt his heart melt and he accepted the hand placement. Pulling her close. Spinning slowly as they held one another.

For a moment lost in their own world but soon they felt the need to let go. They both moved back several feet, but looked at each other and smiled. They approached and their hands reunite. A new passion and a different yet familiar rhythm taking hold of their movements.

The two were skating with the other, perfectly pushing and pulling with a flow and rhythm that only the two of them could feel. It was as if they were on the same wavelength. It was passionate, inspiring and with the feeling of trust the two shared that seemed to just envelop the room.

Marinette felt as if she had transformed into Ladybug. Adrien had felt as if he had transformed into chat noir. This confidence overtook them and they simply went on without thinking of anything else, only the person in front of them mattered.

As the music was about to reach its climax, Adrien lifted and Marinette in the air and spun her.  She didn’t feel nervous, she didn’t feel fear. She felt safe, she knew he would bring her down safely and could hold her as long as he needed to. Marinette felt weightless in his arms, he felt like his very soul was holding her and it would never let her fall. Marinette looking down into his eyes, dazzled while he looked up at her with eyes filled with amazement. The music stopped and Adrien let her down gently.

Both of them panting from their unscripted ice ballet.

The duo looking into the other’s eyes as they breathed heavily and tried to catch their breath. Their minds in complete sync as they both had the exact same thought on the matter.

WOW

“Well that was quite a performance. Nice choice of music.” Philippe praised.

“Yes, they were perfectly in sync.” The old man said with a smile.

“Well I wouldn’t call it Olympic level, the two do show some promise. I would love to have them as students.” The Skater commented.

“Yes, they work well together. I imagine anything is possible if they work together.”

Philippe did not know what to make of the man’s statement. It seemed kind of weird that the old man was intent on helping the two young teens. Perhaps he was a family friend, or an old romantic. The old man did not have any negative intentions, so the skater simply shrugged and moved away to go handle some other matters.

The older man watched from the booth above as a green Kwami popped out of his Hawaiian shirt once he was alone.

“Marinette and Adrien are growing closer than ever. This was quite a brilliant idea master.” 

“Indeed, they are, I have a feeling they will need to be closer to handle the upcoming threat.” Fu answered, his tone more stoic then before.

“Master? Do you believe that a new threat is coming?”

“I can feel something sinister in the air, Wayzz. Only time will tell if this feeling will come to pass. But it will be assuring to know that Ladybug and Chat noir will be ready for it when the time is right. They will need each other more than ever before.”

“Does this mean you will be allowing them to know the other’s true identity?”

The guardian took a moment to think about the question. He saw the smiles on both of their faces as they laughed and enjoyed the other’s company.

“Marinette has made great strides in her training to be the next guardian, should she take up the mantle, she will need to know who chat noir is, and vice versa. I realize now with my failures that the more I cling to these old traditions, the more of a hindrance they become.  After all, it was my mistake that has allowed Hawkmoth to know who I am, while those two have been able to avoid such a folly. Perhaps my mistake was keeping them divided for this long. That action has seemed to hurt them more then help it seems.”

He felt the two’s interaction bring a smile to his face. Hawkmoth didn’t have a prayer if those two could be completely in sync.

“Perhaps it is time to consider it. Perhaps it is time to bring them to the next step.”

Chapter Text

“Alya, you know I think you are awesome and I respect you. But I have to ask, why are we heading to our school on a Sunday?” The DJ questioned as they approached Françoise Dupont High.

“We need some more dirt on Lila, and I have a feeling that we can get it from here.” The ladyblogger explained. “I know it sounds farfetched but there must be something that shows her guilt that she can’t possibly argue.”

The two approach the steps to the front entrance of the school.

“Even if there is more proof, the school is probably locked. There is no way we can….”

Alya opens the front door with no issue.

“Ah… well never mind then.”

The two enter the school and notice how empty the hallways feel without it filled with students.

“Alright, we should check out her locker.”

“Wait, didn’t you get in trouble for going through Chloé’s locker last time? With Lila having the school wrapped around her finger, this might ruin our plan.”

Alya stopped and pondered the statement. She hated to admit it, but Nino was right.

“Crap. That was my main way of getting proof.” Alya stomped in frustration.

“Well it isn’t like they would be able to prove it was you that broke in since the security cameras here suck.”

Alya stopped.

“Security cams? This place has security Cameras!?”

“Well yea. But they were set up poorly, only some of the ones in the main hallways work. That’s why Damocles doesn’t rely on them. I forgot you started coming here around the same time as Adrien, so you wouldn’t know about that.”

“Huh, Shot in the dark. Maybe we can check any footage the cameras have?”

“I mean, it’s worth a shot. Though I am pretty sure it’s a dead end.”

Marinette was sitting outside the ice rink, her skates off, she felt like she was melting.

She and Adrien had decided that was enough skating for the day. The routine took a lot out of them. Adrien offered to get them both water.

She was not expecting to have such an intense skating moment with Adrien. It felt amazing, incredible, and so right.

It felt right trusting Adrien like this, it was so unbelievably natural to do what she did. She loved the feeling of being held by him, holding his hand as they danced on the ice. She felt so in sync with him.

Just like with my Chat noir.

The thought sucker punched her. Chat noir was once again crawling into her headspace. She wanted to stop having thoughts like that about Adrien. Adrien was Adrien and Chat noir was Chat noir.

The first part of her reasoning was because she didn’t want to be comparing Adrien to another boy, or Chat noir to Adrien. It wasn’t fair to either of them.

The second part was because she didn’t want to force the feelings and emotions, she feels for Adrien onto chat noir, it will only make things more complicated and messier.

The last bit was the part that she was surprised to admit her but also did not question.

I don’t want to be disappointed when Adrien isn’t Chat noir.

Marinette thought about it before, with Alya’s jokes on the matter, and that whole music video thing with Clara Nightingale, how can she not imagine it sometimes? 

How lucky would she be having Adrien be her partner in fighting crime? Her most trusted partner and the boy she was in love with being the same person. Knowing Adrien was her goofy lovable cat partner would certainly make it a lot easier to talk with him. The chances of that happening however, were astronomical. Not even Ladybug is that lucky.

“No one is that Lucky…” She sighed

“Who isn’t lucky?” 

Marinette nearly fell back after hearing the sudden question. She jolted to look at Adrien who was holding two water bottles. 

Adrien took a bit longer getting the water bottles then he should have because he was trying to see if he could find that old man that he swore was Master Fu. Sadly, he couldn’t find the old man, and decided to cut his losses and get back to Marinette.

“Nothing! Just surprised how we were the only ones here skating today.”

Adrien moved his hand out to her, holding the bottle.

“I thought you might be thirsty.” 

Marinette took a moment to notice the boy had removed his outer shirt and she could see his fore arms. She couldn’t help but notice he looked a bit more pumped up then before.

“You could say that.” Marinette takes the bottle. “Thank you.”

Adrien sits down beside her. She takes a couple of sips from her bottle. The cool water was very welcome to her parched throat.

Marinette felt her cheeks heat up with how close he was. Watching him open the bottle and take a swig.

After the swig, he sighed with a refreshed smile.

“That was a lot of fun. I didn’t think we would go so far with that.” The blond commented.

“Y-yea. It was unexpected with the spotlight.” 

“I wonder if Philippe set that up?”

“He’s probably going to try signing us up for lessons.” 

Adrien nodded knowing the man really wants to get students.

“Well I’m not sure about lessons; I do think we should do that again… not today. That took a lot of energy.” 

Marinette giggled at the comment.

“I’d like that.” 

Adrien looked at her and grinned. He could swear there must be something in the air, because Marinette looked so incredible. Even with her hair a bit ruffled from the skating. She looked so incredible to him.

“So, Marinette, what else is on the agenda for today?”

Marinette took some water as she checked the time on her phone. She does a shocking spit take.

“Oh crap! The sunset!”

“The Sunset?”

“We need to go! If we want to get to the last place we need to hurry now!” Marinette said as she was grabbing all of her stuff in a Marinette-esque panic which the blond couldn’t help but find cute.

“I’ll make sure our ride is ready.”

Adrien looked to his bodyguard who as if he could read Adrien’s thoughts, moved from his spot to go get the car.

“I swear I think he can read minds sometimes.” 

“That must make it hard for you to sneak out.”

“As long as he doesn’t see me when I do, it’s no big issue.”

“So, Marinette, where is this place you want to end our wonderful day together.”

Marinette felt her face heat up.

“O-Oh! It’s a surprise.”

Adrien smiled.

“Sounds like it will be fun.”

“Who the hell is in charge of this area? This place is a dump!” Alya shouted in frustration.

Nino took Alya to the small surveillance room that was near the office. It was a room maybe half the size of the Principles office. The room had a bunch of dusty monitors, most of which were off. it looked like people haven’t been in the room in months. The door was initially locked, but Alya was able to pick the lock to get them in. Thankfully the area they were at, the security camera didn’t work so they didn’t need to worry about being filmed.

“Yea, no one really. I think Mr. Damocles handles it, but ever since he became the owl hero. he never comes in here.”

Alya wipes dust off the few working monitors.

“Okay, well at least some of these cameras work.” 

Alya began trying to dig into the data in the outdated security monitors.

“It seems it has recordings going as far back as a few days before Lila came back to school. I guess that was the last time Damocles bothered to check the tapes. I guess it will have to do.”

Nino pulled a chair for Alya to sit on.

“No need to work standing.”

Alya give Nino a peck on the cheek.

“You’re sweet. Now watch outside in case anyone is coming. I will check if there is anything here, and after that we can leave.”

Nino nods.

“No worries, I gotcha covered.”

Nino moved to outside the door while Alya got to work.

“Let’s see if there is anything worth investigating.”

“I’m sorry but the elevators are under maintenance.” a woman at the desk informed the two teens in front of her.

“What? But they were fine this morning when I called to check.” The dark-haired teen exclaimed in disbelief.

“I apologize for the inconvenience. But it will likely be another hour or two before the elevator is ready.”

The blond teen next to her put a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s alright Marinette. we can take the stairs.” The Blond assured.

Marinette sighed.

“Yes but… by the time we get up there…” Marinette tried to explain.

She had planned that Adrien and her were at the top of the tower just as the sun was setting. The amazing view would have been perfect to set the scene for her confession. Marinette had planned the day out perfectly, and now, with the last and most crucial step in her plan out of commission, it felt like tripping right at the finish line of a race.

Marinette turned to the woman.

“Thank you for your help.” 

Marinette and Adrien moved away from the main desk.

“I really liked your idea. Going to the Eiffel Tower to see the view of the sunset. I appreciate you going to such lengths for this wonderful day together.” Adrien comforted.

Marinette smiled a bit.

“I am glad you enjoyed it, but I really wish we could watch the sunset from up there.”

Adrien could see it in her eyes. She really wanted to catch that amazing view. And despite Adrien’s best efforts, there was no way he could do it. However, he did happen to know a super hero that might.

“One moment Marinette,” Adrien grabbed his phone and checks it.

“My father messaged me. I’m going to go give him a call. Can you wait here for a little bit?”

“Oh… okay.”

Adrien kept a smile as he ran off to go talk with his dad.

“Must be a private issue.”

Marinette sighed as she looked up at the Eiffel Tower. Even if she sprinted. There was no way she could get up 704 flights of stairs before sunset. Even if she did, she would be all sweaty and be exhausted for the big moment.

“Don’t worry Marinette. I am sure Adrien still had a wonderful time on your date.” a voice whispered to her from her bag. Marinette looked down to address her magical companion.

“I appreciate your kind words Tikki. But I really thought this was my big chance to confess.”

“I am sure that the opportunity will present itself. You just need to have a little hope.” The ladybug Kwami assured before closing her bag. 

Marinette took a moment to notice the sun was a few minutes away from sunset, Adrien was likely going to be talking with his father until the moment ends and the day ends. 

“So much for the perfect day.” Marinette comments to herself.

“Au contraire, Princess”

Marinette turned to see a smirking Black clad hero.

“Chat noir?”

“I happened to be in the neighborhood patrolling the area, and I noticed you took my advice trying to come here for the big finale.” Chat noir smirked. “I really do have impeccable taste if I do say so myself.”

Marinette smiled a bit at the Cat’s bragging.

“Yea, it was good advice. However, it seems that will be an impossibility. The Elevator to the top is undergoing Maintenance and there is no way Adrien and I can get up there before the sunset is finished.”

“Oh, what a shame. If only you had a super hero that could get you both up there in a shake of a tail.” Chat noir dramatically exclaimed. His tail flicking as he mentioned his ‘Tail’

Marinette’s eyes went wide.

“Chat are you…”

“Consider me your personal Wing-cat.” Chat noir winked.

Marinette felt her heart pound.

Once again, chat noir was helping her out. Helping her set up a moment that could mean the end of any chance of the cat being with Ladybug. And he didn’t know it.

“You are a really amazing guy Chat noir.” Marinette spoke softly.

The words were like an arrow to his heart. Marinette has so much pull on his heartstrings and she had no idea.

Chat noir took out his staff and placed it firmly on the ground.

“The express Elevator is open. I will get your Prince up here after you are safely up.”

Marinette moved towards the cat and wrapped her arms around him for safety. The cat wrapped an arm around her waist.

“You might want to hold on to your beret.” Chat noir commented.

Marinette took his advice and removed her hat and held on to it.

In a moment, the two began to ascend high into the sky.

Within a minute, Marinette was at the top level of the famous monument.

Chat noir moved to help get them both safely on the floor. 

“Alright, now to fetch the Prince. Close your eyes Princess.” Chat noir stated.

Just before moving, Marinette caught his hand.

The cat hero paused.

“Chat noir.” Her voice as soft as a violin.

The cat looked at the designer. His eyes go wide as the wind bellows and moves her hair back slightly. The light of the sun hitting her to make her appear with an ethereal glow.

“You deserve to be happy.”

Chat noir felt his cocky grin shift to a soft sincere smile.

“I already am Marinette. Happier than I have been in a very long time” 

Chat noir could swear he saw a tear stream down her face.

“Marinette?”

She hugged him

He was surprised by the sudden motion, but held her close.

“I’m so sorry.”

Chat noir was confused by what the girl could possibly be apologizing for. She hadn’t done anything to hurt him, in fact he was the one that turned her down back then. He was the jerk. What could she… did she feel guilty about going on this date with his other self? Did she feel like that it made her feelings less valid? No, he had to correct this!

“It’s okay Marinette. You don’t need to be hung up on me. You deserve to be happy.”

Marinette wanted more than anything to tell him. She wanted to tell him that the girl he was helping with her date was the very girl he said he was in love with. She wanted to tell him how much of an amazing human being he was, how he was her trusted partner, how he was an amazing friend, and how he was someone she loved dearly.

Yes, she knew it. She knew it deep in her heart. She loved Chat noir. She had known this since the day he comforted her when Hawkmoth first appeared.

Sure, he seemed like flirt at first, and she assumed that his feelings were not serious until his confession. It hurt her so much to turn him down that day, but she was in love with Adrien. But that didn’t mean she didn’t care about his feelings.

Marinette wasn’t sure what type of love she felt for chat noir, she just knew she cared about him, and wanted him to be happy. He deserved better than her, he just didn’t see it. She swore that after this, she would find him a girl that was worthy of him.

Marinette let go of the hug.

“Ladybug is dumb for not falling for you.” Marinette told him.

Chat noir shook his head. The words didn’t sting like they once would have.

“She might have dodged a bullet. I shed.”

Marinette laughs at the joke.

“Alright Princess. I should hurry and get your Prince up here.”

Chat noir quickly ran off and jumped off the building.

Marinette rushed to the edge of the railing and looked down. She noticed the cat was out of sight.

Thank you chat… you don’t know how much better you deserve.

Nino rested his back on a locker that was right next to the door to the monitor room.

He kept an eye out as he waited for his investigative reporter girlfriend to find what she was looking for in that security camera footage.

He went into his bag and pulled out a bottle of bubble soap.

“Just a few blows to steady the nerves.” He said to himself.

He opened the cap of the bottle to reveal a bubble want inside. He dunked the wand a few times before blowing a few bubbles.

It had been a while since he had done this. He always kept the soap on him. His little brother always loved popping bubbles. But now a days Chris said bubbles were for babies. Nino never really understood where his baby bro was coming from. Bubbles were awesome.

Though he had to admit that he hadn’t done this recently, the whole fiasco with him being a bubble themed Akuma really soured the experience for a while. He hated to admit how much that day had an effect on him.

He blew a few more bubbles into the air and watched as they floated in the hallway.

Nino wanted to give Hawkmoth a punch in the face for making him stay away from one of his favorite stress relievers. He remembers how he did chuck his shield at the butterfly man back when he was Carapace. That thought did make him smile.

“Heh, Nice.”

Nino was about to blow another set of bubbles when Alya burst through the door. The surprise cause Nino to lose grip of his bubble soap resulting in it spilling on the floor.

“Nino! You have to see this!”

Nino turned to his girlfriend.

“What happened?”

Alya looked at the area and noticed the spilled soap.

“Were you blowing bubbles? I thought you said you didn’t do that after the whole bubbler incident?” Alya inquired.

“I decided to bring it back again. So, what were you bursting through doors about?”

Alya took a moment to recollect her sudden outburst.

“Come in here.”

The DJ shrugged and moved inside the Security room.

“You found something?”

“See for yourself.” Alya answered.

The hat wearing teen looked closely at the screen as he saw a figure that looked like an akuma fluttering on Camera.

“Is that an Akuma!”

“Keep watching.”

Nino continued watching as the butterfly seemed to be fluttering aimlessly.

“Weird, guess it doesn’t have anyone to Akumatize… wait is that…”

Lila appeared in view of the camera, moving towards the Akuma.

Nino watched in utter shock as the girl purposefully accepted the Akuma.

“No fucking way…”

Marinette stared out on the balcony on top of the Eiffel tower. When she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Marinette turned to see Adrien, smiling at her.

“Seems you had a backup plan for getting us up here.” Adrien joked.

“I didn’t plan it. We really lucked out.” Marinette exclaimed. “Chat noir is a really good person.”

Adrien felt his cheeks burn at the compliment that she was unaware she gave him.

“Wow, the sunset really is amazing from up here.” He changed the subject.

Marinette moved to look in the direction of the setting sun. From the top of the tower, she could see all of Paris bathing in the magnificent light of the dimming star. The sky was a plethora of colors as the main light source of the day was drifting to slumber in Paris.

Adrien moved to her side. He moved his hand to hers, touching her hand with his.

Marinette looked at him for a brief moment, he looked at her, smiling nervously. She could tell he in that instant that he was just as nervous as she was. It made her feel a bit at ease. She accepted his hand in hers.

The two turned back to looking at the sky with wonder. 

Marinette felt her heart in her chest.

Alright Marinette… It’s now or never.

“Okay, time to set everything up.” the brunette said with a sinister smile.

She had easily made her way into the empty school. The front door was not locked, Lila mentally noted how much of a safety violation that probably was. It’s like the place was begging to get robbed. Though the more likely reason was that there might be someone already inside.

She was careful to not make a sound, just in case her theory was correct, though it was likely some Janitor doing some late-night cleaning.

Lila quietly moved to the locker area. She stealthily moved and opened every locker that belonged to someone in her class, making sure to take some sort of valuable. Before methodically closing it. 

She made sure to locate Marinette’s locker.

“Perfect.” The manipulative liar whispered as she began picking the lock. It was tougher than the others, the lock was slightly different. Her lock was newer, something must have happened to her old locker sometime before Lila had arrived that resulted in a new lock being put in.

It took a few minutes to open the locker but sure enough, it did.

Lila made sure to cautiously put the stolen goods in the girl’s locker, including her necklace, putting it in a way that would ensure the contents fell out next time the designer opened it.

“Phase one complete. Now for phase two.”

Lila made her way to her homeroom class.

Lila had initially planned on framing Marinette for cheating on an exam. But that was too unbelievable. But having her sabotage Chloé? That would be something far more believable.

Lila had snagged one of Marinette’s spare hair scrunchies from the locker, putting it under Chloe’s seat. Lila loosened a few of the bolts on the mayor’s daughter’s seat.

Lila had a third surprise, but that would be saved for Monday. She wanted to be there the moment her final piece appeared, resulting in that pigtailed brat’s expulsion.

Lila made her way out of the classroom, when she suddenly heard footsteps.

Shit! Someone is coming! I need to hide!

Lila looked around and noticed another door and quickly ran to that door and closed it.

Hoping no one would check.

She ducked down and listened for the footsteps to go away. But as she sudden motion caused her to knock over a broom which had the handle smack her head.

She muffled her yelp of pain with her hand. She made the realization that of all the places she picked to hide, she picked a Janitor’s closet.

She decided to ignore that irony while she put her ear to the door to listen to the footsteps.

“I think we got everything we needed.”

“Yea, I still can’t believe what we found. This is so much worse than we realized.”

Lila recognized the voices. It was Alya and Nino! What were they doing here?

If they go to the locker area and notice what she was up to, her plan could be ruined!

“So, are we good for tonight then?”

“Yea? I think we got everything for tomorrow. Marinette and Adrien will definitely be surprised.”

Tomorrow? What could possibly be tomorrow? They are probably planning something for the two ‘Love birds’ Lila rolled her eyes. Too bad their plan will be going up in smoke once I am through with Marinette

Lila couldn’t hear their words or their footsteps. She waited another minute before moving. She carefully stood up as to avoid getting another bump on the head. 

She opened the door, but forgot about the broom she knocked over. her first step out of the closet resulted in her tripping and smacking her nose right on the floor.

Lila bit her tongue to avoid screaming.

She really hated Janitor’s Closets.

Chapter Text

An old man looked up from his bench as he saw the lights of the Eiffel Tower go on.

He took a moment to reflect upon his life, he had traveled to many places during his time as guardian, but out of all of them, he loved Paris the most.

How could he not? It was here that the love of his life, it was here that he found Marinette and Adrien, the two that have helped rectify the biggest mistake he had ever made, the place where he reunited with his lady love, Marianne. Truly this city had a certain magic to it. The City of Love.

He felt a smile grow on his face. 

Those two kids really changed my life. Perhaps it was their bond that made this possible. I wonder how their date is going?

Fu couldn’t help but wonder about his chosen. He was aware of their rather amusing situation. Marinette was in love with Adrien, Chat noir was in love with Ladybug, both unaware that their loves were the same person. He admits that last bit was his fault, but it was for the sake of their protection. 

They had grown so much since then, and Hawkmoth already knew his identity. At this point, he has been thinking about how much more dangerous it was that they didn’t know who the other was. What if something happened to him? Who would Marinette be able to turn to? The stress and loneliness that he suffered back when he was her age was immense. He wasn’t sure what person he could trust, if it wasn’t for Marianne….

Fu shook his head. He refused to let Marinette suffer like he did. He knew that forcing them to keep this secret even from the other would only be more of a hindrance down the road. Both emotionally and in practicality. He would let them know this soon. But right now, they should enjoy their date.

“Alright, Good practice.” The guitarist exclaimed as he stretched.

Kitty Section proceeded to put down their instruments and relax.

“Amazing as always everyone. I should head back home now.” The blond vocalist praised as she went to get her stuff.

“Rose wait, I’ll walk you home.” The long-haired bassist called out as she moved to her side.

“Thanks, Juleka. You are such a sweetie!”

Juleka smiled with a slight blush on her cheeks at the praise of the blonde.

“Take care!” The drummer waved as the two girls headed off. 

“I gotta head out too, my parents are expecting me home at 8. Do you need anything before I head out?”

The drummer had been trying to talk to the guitarist, but he seemed to be a bit out of it.

“Luka?”

“Huh? Oh, Sorry Ivan. I’m fine. Things are good.” Luka responded.

Ivan could tell that the guitarist had something on his mind, but knowing how he worked, it would be best to let him do a solo session to clear his head.

“See ya later.”

Ivan headed out, leaving the Guitarist alone with his thoughts

Luka found his thoughts wandering to a certain girl, but not the girl he was expecting to be thinking about.

He felt his head was playing two different songs and the one that he had stuck in his head longer was sounding softer and softer ever since that akuma attack two days prior. He didn’t want that song to escape his head. So, he tried his best to focus on it.

The musician picked up his guitar and tried playing the first song, the song he knew represented Marinette.

He started with a few notes, but it didn’t sound right. He stopped and started again, he was able to play a bit more but the song just sounded off. 

“I still can’t get it right. And now its fading even more.”

He tried a few more attempts at playing it. Before, it felt so much more inspired and passionate to try and figure out this song. But now he felt that maybe completing Marinette’s song would be impossible.

“It’s like I can’t really know her.” He said his mental realization aloud.

Luka took a deep breath, and started strumming without thinking. He was playing naturally; a new song was coming to life. This one felt strong, it felt confident, but then it took softer tones, chords that rode waves of simplicity yet had touches of complex feelings. The song felt exactly like Kagami, the girl he got to know during that akuma attack.

He could visualize her song so clearly in comparison to the one he had been trying and failing to play, it was frustrating to him.

How did his new friend leave such an impression on him when before that point they were not even on the other’s radar? 

He remembered how Marinette walked into his room and he found himself drawn to her, but then again, who isn’t drawn into Marinette? 

Now that he dwelled on it, up until that point he had never spoken to Kagami. They never had an encounter, and he can say in comparison that is was definitely a memorable one.

Luka continued to play his guitar, perhaps if he can fully grasp this song, he might be able to get back to Marinette’s song or maybe he would understand why this melody was echoing in his brain.

Kagami finished her school work and closed the math book that had been the bane of her existence for the last hour. She took a moment to stretch her limbs which had been inactive during her academic pursuits. Her mother was always strict in both academics and fencing, and she had no intention of failing her mother on either front.

The fencer stood up and went to grab her clothes before she went to shower, as she was doing so, she noticed a small case in the corner of the room.

She walked over and opened it, revealing an object she hasn’t touched in years. Her violin.

Years back, Kagami had tried her hand at playing the violin, her mother had encouraged her to take up the instrument as a way of helping her with precision and rhythm.

Kagami inspected the stringed instrument, the case had prevented the finely crafted musical tool from getting dusty or dirty. It was still as clean as it was when she first put it away back then. 

Her mother had decided the instrument was not as necessary to her fencing training and told her to focus more on other endeavors. That was around the time she took up Archery, a change in the bows she was using.

Kagami wondered if she still remembered how to play. It had been so long.

I wonder what Luka will think if he knew I played an instrument.

The fencer felt the thought of impressing her new friend driving her to pick up the and try to play the violin like she had so long ago.

Gabriel stood in front of his wife’s statue, taking a moment to steady himself. All he had been doing for the past year, everything up until this moment was for her.

He couldn’t help but think about his conversation with his son earlier, sure he had used it to plunge Lila deeper into anger and desperation, but it was only now did he realize what was happening.

Adrien was moving on with his life, he was learning, growing, finding love in a world that Emilie would not be a part of. Gabriel recoiled at the thought.

“Sir.”

His assistance voice called out to him, breaking him from his thoughts.

“What is it Nathalie?”

“I’m sorry to disturb you. I wanted to inform you that Adrien will be slightly delayed getting back home.”

Gabriel turned to face her.

“I see. That is little concern as long as he arrives home.”

Gabriel was about to turn back around. But Nathalie spoke up again.

“I must ask, what are your true thoughts on Adrien attempting to court Miss Dupain Cheng?”

Gabriel paused for a moment.

“Why does this concern you?”

“Adrien seems to care deeply for her, I’d like to know if you intend to use her as a means to our goal.”

Gabriel pondered this comment for a moment.

“She is of little use to me at this time, perhaps if she proves competent and loyal she may be willing to assist us directly in our goal. If not, then there are other ways of utilizing her.”

Nathalie felt a shiver go down her spine. She knew the fashion mogul was plagued with loss and anger over his wife’s passing. He is willing to use anything at his disposal in order to bring her back. 

Nathalie found it ironic that a kwami that could sense the emotions of others was being utilized by someone that was blinded by his grief and anger that he couldn’t see people as anything more than tools.

“I suppose so, but do try to avoid hurting Adrien if possible. You know Emilie would not want him to get hurt by any of this.”

That got a reaction out of the grieving widower.

“You’re right, getting Adrien involved is not exactly ideal. I’d like to avoid it if possible.”

Gabriel turned back to the statue as if to end the conversation there. Nathalie knew he was talking to Emilie more than he was her. She sighed before leaving him to his own devices. She just hoped he wouldn’t decide to put any pain on Adrien, should he feel it would get his means to the end.

“But I will do what I must to bring you back.” He whispered for only the statue to hear

“FWAH!” Lila screeched as she slipped and landed hard on her tail bone.

She had been briskly running to the back of the school in order to head back home only for her to find herself slipping on a puddle of what she assumed to be soapy water.

“Ouch that freaking hurt…” Lila mutter as she rubbed her asking backside as she continued making her way out of the school.

Despite the bits of bad luck, she did have everything set. She would ruin Marinette’s credibility and make sure she gets expelled. Gabriel Agreste would most definitely not approve of his son dating an expelled delinquent. 

Of course, once word got around that Marinette was expelled, spreading rumors about her will become a lot easier, she could ruin that wannabe designer and make sure she paid for causing her so much strife. Then Lila will go after her little friends, best not to have anyone that might be a pain later down the road, and Marinette is one of those people that hates when her friends suffer, so that will just be a nice little bonus.

“Just you wait Marinette, your life as you know it ends and it is all starting with tonight.”

Marinette and Adrien took in the sight of the setting sun over the city they had both grown up in. The light reflecting on the buildings that they had passed countless times as the sky expressed a crescendo of colors. It was a view that many would envy.

“Thank you.”

Marinette turned to see the words had come out of Adrien’s mouth.

“Thank you for today. It’s been the best day I have had in a long time.” Adrien clarified as he looked at her and smiled.

“I feel the same way.”

Adrien could feel that she meant it. Her smile beamed like the light of the setting sun.

They had a silent moment before both of them tried to speak.

“Adrien.” “Marinette”

“Sorry I… No, you first.”

The two laughed at the simultaneous speaking.

“You first Marinette, I insist.”

“Okay.”

Marinette took a deep breath. This was the moment she has been waiting to happen for months. This was going to be the moment that Adrien was going to hear about her feelings. No letter mix-ups, no missing signatures, no akuma attacks, no accidental embarrassing voicemails, no unsigned presents, no wax statue shenanigans, no medical mix-ups, and no miraculous related mishaps. This was it, and she was going to do it.

“There is something I have been wanting to tell you for… for a while now.”

Marinette could feel her nerves trying to tell her to abort this mission, her burning confidence had faded. She felt the butterflies in her stomach which were more like energized akuma wreaking havoc on her insides. 

Adrien was focused on Marinette. His ears were burning, what is it that she could be telling him?

Marinette felt her mind flash through every failed attempt to tell him how she felt or tried to get close to him. Her mind wincing from each failed attempt, as if her thoughts were screaming at her to stop, afraid that this would be the greatest failure and hurt so much worse than any heartache or embarrassment she had felt up to this point. She could feel her confidence waning. The words she was so sure of were failing to reach her lips. 

I can’t do this. This was too soon. I can’t… I need to just cut my losses. There is no way I can tell him how I feel.

Yes, you can!

Marinette heard the voice of a familiar cat in her head. A voice kind and strong enough that it just cut through her doubts like a hot knife through butter.

You, are so much more amazing then you realize Bugaboo. 

Maybe it was the nerves, but she could swear she could hear that cat as if he was right next to her. It was official, the stress and pressure had made her snap and imagine Chat noir as her inner encouraging voice. Though it did make sense that it would be him encouraging her. Chat noir had always been by her side. She listened as her inner chat noir continued. She could practically visualize the blond cat hero in front of her, holding her shoulders as he looked into her eyes with his piercing green eyes.

You’re not just a normal girl that would let her nerves turn to jelly just because her crush is in front of you. You’re so much stronger than that. Each failed attempt wasn’t for nothing, you grew as a person, you took another step forward and grew closer to Adrien each and every time. You are a superheroine that fights supervillains every single day. You are Ladybug, you are the girl behind the mask. Now go tell your prince how you feel and don’t let anything hold you back. You are miraculous.

She could feel her tense nerves ease at his words, Chat Noir always did have a way of calming her down. Even if it wasn’t actually him, she knows he would probably give her this type of pep talk.

“Marinette?

Adrien managed to bring Marinette back to reality.

“Huh? Oh sorry, I lost myself for a second.”

“It’s alright, the view can be mesmerizing. You were saying?”

Marinette took a calming breath, and now felt herself ready to speak.

She took his hands into hers, the world around both of them seemed to slow down. It was as if they were the only two people in all of Paris.

“Adrien, you’re a really wonderful person.”

Adrien could feel his cheeks heat up as he saw her eyes light up.

“You are kind, compassionate, energetic, and so bright. I always feel happy when you are around. I just always have had trouble expressing it to you. Even now I feel like I might stumble or stammer at any moment.”

Marinette looked down relieved she hadn’t butchered her words yet, but this was just the beginning. She steadied herself and looked up at him again.

“I guess I just find it hard to believe someone so amazing could be in my life.”

“Marinette, I…” 

“After that day, when you gave me your umbrella, I saw what kind of person you were. I couldn’t help but be drawn to you.”

Adrien felt his heart pounding against his ribs, could she be… could this be a confession? Like the ones in anime? Or was he simply overthinking it.

“I thought I would get used to it, but as I learned more about you, the more I found myself wanting to get closer to you. Though, it always felt like I kept failing every time I tried.”

The wind seemed to catch Marinette’s hair as she paused for a moment.

“But now, I see that I didn’t fail. I kept getting to see more of what kind of person you are. You’re the kind of person that would go to great lengths for those he cares about. You’re someone that wants to be a good friend to anyone, even when many would say that someone might not deserve it. You’re naïve and you get excited over little things. You are also loyal to a fault, and you’re bad at pulling pranks.”

Marinette giggled as she listed his traits, the version of him that she sees. Adrien couldn’t help but keep a warm smile at her words.

“I am so glad I have someone like you in my life. I couldn’t imagine how my life would be without you.”

Her words struck right at his heart. He felt like he could melt into a puddle at any second.

“I guess that’s why it’s easy for me to know how I feel about you.”

“And what do you feel about me?”

“I am in love with you, Chat Noir.”

Adrien felt his eyes go wide as the words hit his ears.

Marinette realized what had slipped past her lips. She had confessed but said a different person’s name! And what’s worse, it was the name of the hero that helped them up here in the First Place!

She covered her mouth in shock. Her confession that was supposed to be her big moment had turned into her worst nightmare. She could feel tears welling in her eyes.

Adrien’s face became unreadable as he looked down. Marinette wanted to correct this.

“Adrien! I meant to say Adrien! I wasnt… I didn’t…” Marinette scrambled to try and fix what she said. Her mind was in panic mode over this massive word slip.

He hugged her, holding her close to his chest.

“It’s okay Marinette. I get it.”

Marinette was surprised by how calm he was.

“It’s alright, I know how hard this can be.”

His words both calmed and confused the designer.

“W-What do you mean?”

He released the hug to look at her.

“This is a bit embarrassing to admit, but, you aren’t the only one that has had trouble getting over a super love interest.” He confessed, looking a bit more vulnerable then she was expecting.

Marinette felt her erratic thoughts ease themselves as she listened.

“Do you remember, after that trip to the wax museum?”

She remembered it vividly, that day was one of her most humiliating moments, and that time she heard that bombshell about a girl he loves.

“Yeah… I remember.”

“The girl I was referring to… it was Ladybug.”

Marinette felt her eyes widen in surprise.

“Ladybug? Like… the super heroine of Paris, Ladybug?”

Adrien nods, a bit embarrassed.

“I know it sounds kind of nuts, falling in love with someone you don’t know the identity of, but I think you can understand how I feel.”

Marinette was surprised to learn that Adrien was actually in love with her superhero identity. She always knew he was a fan and maybe had a bit of a crush, but to hear him say it outright was shocking, yet also flattering. This also explained that whole thing with the poem back during Valentine’s day.

“Up until recently, I was still holding out hope that maybe…” He shook his head.

“But I realized how wrong in I was, at the end of the day, I had no way of truly knowing who she was. I was projecting some image of who I wanted her to be.”

“So, I started thinking differently, who would I have wanted to be Ladybug?”

Marinette looked at Adrien with wonder, feeling herself drawn on every word.

“If I could pick the person who I wanted to be Ladybug, the girl I wanted to fall in love with. I realized… it was you. I wanted it to be the girl who was already an everyday Ladybug.”

“You encompassed what I thought was amazing about Ladybug, you are kind, compassionate, clever, quick witted, crazy creative, Beautiful…”

Marinette felt her face burn at that.

His face going ladybug red.

“And you also have things that make you unlike anyone else, you are down to earth, you are a bit clumsy and you space out. Your baking skills are phenomenal, you’re also forgiving and so attentive to others. Your heart has so much to give and I can’t help but find that incredible.”

“A-Adrien I…”

“What I am saying is, I get where you are coming from. I know it might be hard to get over someone as cool as Chat noir.” 

Marinette could feel her thoughts going into a cyclone as she listened.

“But if you can give me a chance, I would like to be your Chat Noir.”

Marinette had felt that maybe she had ruined everything with her little slip up, but here she was, standing in front of him, he was baring his heart to her.

He wanted to be her Chat noir.

She felt herself smile. She put every ounce of confidence she had left in what she did next.

She moved her hands to her cheeks.

“I would rather you be my Adrien.”

She closed her eyes and moved in just shy of touching his lips with her own as he was processing her statement. He grasped what she meant, he smiled at her.

“As long as you’re my Marinette.”

She could feel her own heart trying to burst out of her chest like a recently lit firecracker as he met her lips with his own.

Chapter Text

Lila used her key to unlock the front door. She quietly entered only to see her mother smiling at her.

“I was wondering where you were. How is everything honey?” Her mother greeted.

Lila put on a smile for her and greeted her with a cheek kiss. She was not expecting to see her mother up. She would have sworn she would be asleep. The work at the embassy often left her mother drained, it was rare when she was up an about at night when she was home.

“I had to slip by the school. Make sure that I had everything I needed for tomorrow.” She answered.

“Studious as always. I am so proud of you.”

“Of course! If I want to be as amazing as you I have to keep up with my school work.”

Lila knew her mother would eat up the flattery. Her mother was a gullible woman that loved to be complimented. She was not stupid, but she was far too trusting. The brunette knew all too well that her mother had often had her kindness taken advantage of by others.

“I was listening to the answering machine messages, and I noticed your principal called. He says that he is glad to have you back from your leave of absence?”

Lila didn’t bother sweating the comment.

“It’s an error with the school computer. Remember how my old school had similar issues? I will clear it up this week.”

“Of course. School systems don’t really change much wherever you go, we really need to discuss that at the next meeting.”

“Don’t worry Mamma, I am making the most of it.”

“Mia stellina I know you will. That is why I got you a gift.”

“Oh?”

Lila watched as her mother pulled out a small box that was gift wrapped. Handing it to her daughter.

“I am sorry I had been gone most of last week. Things have been hectic. What with the… oh you don’t need to worry about all that. I saw this on my way back and I was saving it for your birthday, but I figured now would be a good time.”

Lila opened the present to reveal a lovely silver bracelet, with a small charm in the shape of an eye mask. Her mother knew Lila had a love of masks and would make sure that if there was some place she went that was interesting, she would get her a mask from that place.

“Thank you, Mamma, it is lovely.” Lila hugged her mother. Managing to hide how little she actually cared about the gift.

“I knew you would love it. It will look so lovely on you when we go out to dinner with your boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?”

“The handsome blond model you told me about. Adrien?”

“Oh! Right. Yes of course. My boyfriend. Though I am not sure he will be able to have dinner with us anytime soon. His father has him on such a strict schedule.”

Mrs. Rossi frowned.

“We can work something out another time. I’d really like to meet him.”

“I’m sure he feels the same way.”

Lila began making her way to her room.

“I think I’m going to get ready for school tomorrow.”

“Alright dear, I will be here all day tomorrow, maybe I can swing by your school and we can have lunch together.”

“Sounds great. Looking forward to it.”

Lila closed the door to her room.

She let her fake smile leave her face as she looked at the bracelet.

Tacky

Lila didn’t hate the gift, no, she did like that her mother did take the time to get her something. She just wished her mother could have gotten her something better. But really, Lila couldn’t really expect much despite how hard her mother works.

Lila looked over the bracelet more, her mind wandering as she stared at the little mask charm. It looked reminiscent of the masks worn in Masquerade balls. Lila had to admit it was very fitting.

Everyone wears masks. People sculpt a persona, a personality in which they deal with people. They wear it as best as they can. People often change their masks as they grow or go to new environments. Lila was well aware of that. She was practically a master of it at this point.

Even her sweet naïve momma wears a mask. The mask that she is happy and doing fulfilling work. Lila knows better than anyone that her mother was practically forced to take this position.

Being a diplomat to Paris was considered the worst option when given a choice. Considering how there are depressed supervillains that pop up and nearly destroy the city several times a week because of a Super Terrorist’s quest for jewelry. Lila remembered how her momma tried so hard to spin this into a positive light. How this was her first role as an ambassador and that if she proved herself, she could choose her next assignment. Lila would have rather had gone to any country other than France, even America was preferable and they have their own craziness to deal with. Nevertheless, her mother did her best to be cheerful as she was thrown into this.

Lila refused to be like that, one’s mask should be the person they want to be, not the person they have to be. She would try out a different persona with each place she went, and sure enough, she would leave with a fun experience just before everything went crumbling down.  She would then start from scratch and no one was the wiser.

Paris turned out to be the best place for this, since everything here is so bizarre here, no one would think twice about looking into a lie that seems outlandish. So, Lila allowed herself to be a bit more reckless with her actions. She had to admit, that her carelessness now needed to be corrected, she had allowed herself to get too lax with how good things have been and it nearly blew her cover 3 times. She needed to fix things.

She snapped back to reality, staring at the bracelet. She still wasn’t a fan of the look, but it was still a gift from her mother.

She would wear it tomorrow for her lunch with her mother. But afterwards she can slip it into her bag or something and forget about it. Her mother would be back to being worked like crazy and forget about it after two weeks.

Her phone began vibrating, pulling her out of her thoughts.

She looked at the number and her eyes went wide. It was Alya.

Did that nosy reporter see her at the school?! No, that can’t be possible. She was likely calling about something else. The Italian exchange student took a calming breath and answered her phone.

“Evening Alya? Whats up”

“Hey girl.” Alya greeted with her usual cheery tone. Alya was doing her best not to be in a fiery rage right now, she needed to be calm. A good reporter keeps calm under pressure. “I am just working on an article for the Ladyblog. Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

“Of course. So, if it’s for the Ladyblog it must be ladybug related. What do you want to ask about? I am an open book.” Lila matched the cheery tone Alya had given her, she was hiding her absolute disgust over the subject. Ladybug was one of the last people Lila wanted to talk about right now, especially with how that heroine left her locked in a closet during the last akuma attack.

“Oh, it’s about akumatization. You know, that thing with the butterflies that maniacal monster Hawkmoth does to people. I am writing an article of how it impacts people and with how close you are with Ladybug, I figured she might have leaked a detail or two that I wasn’t aware of. Do you mind answering some questions about it?”

This wasn’t a complete lie, Alya was writing about Akumatization, but it was about Lila’s times as an akuma specifically.

“Well I might have a detail or two that could be shared. Ask away!”

Lila knew she had already had a close call with Alya earlier this week, she didn’t want to give the reporter a single reason to think she was a bad person. She could lie about a thing or two if needed to ensure that this line was secure, until she left the girl dangling from a cliff.

“Great! Thanks for doing this. You are a life saver.”

“Glad I can help, so bring on the questions.”

“Right. First question, how many times have you been akumatized?”

Lila was about to answer three, once during her first time in Paris, once during Heroes’ day, and once during her day back, that of course wouldn’t be good. She had said during Heroes’ day she was on a leave of absence outside of Paris. So that won’t do.

“Two. Once on my first day at Dupont, and the second time on my first day back.”

She is Lying

Alya had noticed the lie, Lila had been akumatized at least three times. Once was during her first day, the second time was at Heroes’ day because there were reports of Volpina among the akuma army. If Lila was out of France at that time, Volpina couldn’t have possibly been there. The day she got back had to have been her third time akumatized.

“I see, and during both of those times you felt intense emotional distress. Correct?”

“My memory is a bit fuzzy on them, but yes. I can say that I felt emotionally vulnerable.”

“As expected. And you have no memory of the activities you did while you were an akuma?”

“That is correct. If I was in complete control, there is no way I would have done such awful things.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t. Now this question is a bit more of a confirmation, something of a rumor among the Ladyblog. There is some speculation that if you accept the akuma willingly, you will maintain your memory of what happened while as an akuma. Is that something you can confirm?”

“Yes, Ladybug mentioned it once during a conversation. She was worried that Hawkmoth had some ‘Supporters’ that willingly did his bidding. I also believe if the person gives up the akuma willingly back to Hawkmoth they retain their memories during their time as an akuma. But I am not certain of that.” Lila added a touch of some truth to make it appear more legit that she and Ladybug are close. That is some personal information she discovered for herself. Lila was certain that this would ensure Alya trusted her.

Alya was certain Lila was willingly working with Hawkmoth and that she would never trust this liar ever again.

“Oh wow, that is very interesting. So just to assure the readers that you aren’t one of those followers. Have you ever accepted the akuma for yourself willingly?” Alya made sure the question had a lighthearted tone to come off as a joke.

Lila laughed.

“Willingly work with that butterfly creep? You would have to be someone with no empathy to even consider it.”

“One last thing, is it alright if I quote you in my article? If not, I will keep your name out of the…”

“By all means go ahead. I would love to be a part of your work if you want me to be.”

“Alright, I’ve got everything I need. Thanks again Lila. I should have this article out by tomorrow.”

“Anytime. I’m looking forward to reading it.”

“Have a good night.”

“You too.”

Lila hung up the phone with a content smile.

She is none the wiser. I even did a little bit of good letting her in on that bit of information on Hawkmoth. That should send some good karma my way

Lila smiled as yawned suddenly. She decided now would be a good time for bed.

Alya smiled as she made sure she was off the call.

“Thanks Lila, you have no idea how much help that was.”

She had transcribed the interview into her article as she was talking with the liar.

She read through it to make sure there were no errors

“Alright, and this will be up tomorrow morning after first period.”

She scrolled up to the top page of the article which read:

'Friend of Ladybug or Akuma Collaborator? The Truth on Lila Rossi'

“Now to add the last few edits before going to bed.”

The ride back to the Dupain Bakery was quiet for most of it. It seemed to fly by as the two teens held hands while the large mountain of a man drove them back.

Everything felt so surreal. A wonderful breakfast, a pleasant time of checking out the latest exhibits of the Louvre, a peaceful stroll through the park, an intense session of ice skating, and the dramatic confession on the top of the Eiffel tower which did not go as expected, but still went over very well.

“Marinette.”

“Yes Adrien?”

The blond model felt his face heat up a bit as he tried to speak up.

“So… I guess we can cancel that idea of talking things over in a week.” Adrien said with a nervous laugh.

“Yea… I suppose so.” She giggled.

The two were both happy with how things turned out, but both were still sort of shocked on what to do now.

“How are we going to tell the others? Should we text them so they aren’t stunned?”

“I think this is something that would be better told in person.”

“You mean bragged about?” Adrien teased.

“Maybe.”

The two blushed at this before laughing more. They felt like toddlers that were let loose in a candy store. Excited and bubbly.

“So, we tell them tomorrow then?”

“Yes,”

“Alright, sounds like a plan.”

The limo stops, causing the two to move slightly forward but their seatbelts kept them from moving off the seat.

“I guess this is my stop.”

“Let me get the door for you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to.”

“And what gentleman would I be if I didn’t help a Lady out of the car?”

Marinette’s eyes went wide for a moment. The way he said that rang familiar. But she shook that out of her head. She was going to stop comparing him to chat noir.

Adrien didn’t notice the brief blank out as he got out of the car to open her side.

Marinette got out of the vehicle and gave him a smile.

“Why thank you, kind sir.”

“Shall I walk with you to the door?”

Marinette gave the polite gentleman teen a kiss on the cheek.

“Here is good enough. If you walked with me to the door, My Parents would likely invite you in, and your father would be upset if you were gone any later than necessary”

“Very true.”

Adrien mentally cursed at the fact that his father had a stick up his ass the size of the Eiffel Tower.

“Good night Marinette.”

“Good night Adrien.”

Marinette walked to her door and used her key to enter the bakery.

Once the door was closed, Adrien went back into the limo, he closed the door and sighed happily.

“It’s a beautiful night.”

The driver said nothing as he began driving the boy home, but he did have a small ghost of a smile on his face. 

Marinette closed the door behind her before sliding down with a loving sigh. Her legs were jelly.

Her kwami flew out of her bag.

“Seems everything went well.” The ladybug kwami commented with a sly smile.

“I’m dating Adrien Agreste.” Marinette stated blissfully. Her eyes were sparkling as if she had found the 8^thwonder of the world.

“I am so happy for you Marinette. I knew you could do it.”

“This must be a dream. All of this is some dream, I’m still in bed and I slept through my alarm. Adrien is actually downstairs waiting and probably regretting every… OW!”

Marinette noticed her kwami had pinched her hand.

“Tikki! Why did you do that?!”

“To prove you were awake.”

Marinette paused before going back to her joyous expression.

“Its real!”

The kwami loved seeing her chosen so happy.

“We should probably head upstairs, you have to tell your parents all about it. I believe your dad was keen on finding out details.”

“Right! I have to tell them everything.”

Marinette had so many people she wanted to tell. Her parents, Alya, the girls, Chat noir…

She felt herself stop.

“Marinette?”

“I’ll have to tell Chat noir.” Her feelings felt a bit jumbled now that this thought was given life. And something told her this would not be as much fun as telling the others, whether it was because of how he would feel or how she feels about it.

“That can wait another time, you can’t just lay on the bakery floor.” Tikki commented, trying to change the mood.

“Good point, I should probably get up.”

Marinette knew she would have to tell the cat sometime, but there would be a right time and place. Right now, was a time to be happy and enjoy the fact that she was dating her crush.

Adrien arrived home to see Nathalie waiting at the door.

“And how was your day with Miss Dupain Cheng?” Nathalie inquired, her usual monotone hid her genuine interest.

The blond smiled a bit.

“You will be seeing her around me a lot more, I will need to work with you to rearrange my schedules if I want to be able to have time with her.”

“I see. I will see what I can do.”

“Is father…”

“He is occupied with work, you’ll be able to tell him about your day during your scheduled dinner this upcoming Friday.”

Adrien’s smile faltered slightly, he thought things were going to be different with how his father had shown sudden interest in his life the other day. But this was likely for the best.

“Thank you, Nathalie. I will be heading to my room. Have a good night.”

“You too Adrien.”

Adrien headed to his room. Despite his father’s absence on the matter, he was still in a good mood and he would not let the distance get to him.

His smile blossomed once his door was closed and his kwami companion bursted out of his pocket

“Well done Romeo, you got the girl.” The cat kwami congratulated his wielder as he moved to his stash to help himself to some cheese.

“It’s kind of hard to believe it’s real. It feels like a dream. I didn’t think I could be this happy, Plagg.”

“Well good, you deserve to be happy considering all the crap you go through.” Plagg stated as he found a nice chunk of Camembert with extra stink.

Adrien laid back on his bed, he could just revel in the warmth of this day for a while.

“I wonder how everyone will react to finding out. I kind of want to text Nino and let him know.”

“I don’t really understand the big deal with this reveal stuff. You are acting like this is an unmasking ceremony or something.”

Plagg realized his words may not have been wisely picked.

“That’s right, I will need to let Ladybug know.”

Adrien was silent, his expression hard to read as his words hung in the air.

“You are okay with all of this right?” Plagg asked.

“I did say that no matter who was under that mask, I would love that girl. I meant it, but there are many different types of love. It doesn’t need to be romantic. I think it took me some time to realize that.”

Plagg chomps on to his cheese.

“Well, as long as you are sure.”

Adrien stretched.

“I should get ready for bed”

“Why? It’s still early.”

“I don’t want to be tired when I see Marinette tomorrow.”

Plagg rolled his eyes at the soft smile on the blond’s face.

“I don’t know how you did it, but you are actually cheesier then cheese.”

“Okay Kim, I get it. The guy in the show modified himself to look like a cucumber.”

“Max, you aren’t even listening! It was a pickle! A pickle, Max! I swear it is the funniest…”

Max was distracted. By his phone vibrating.

“Hold on Kim, I got a text from Alya, it might be urgent. I will have to call you back.”

“That’s cool, but I am showing you that clip. It is hilarious. “

Max secretly thankful that he had an excuse to hang up. He loved his friend, but he had weird taste.

Max looked at the text.

Everything is set up, make sure that the mass email goes up after first period starts. We need to have everyone is in class.

Max understood. he would adjust the time that everything got sent out.

Affirmative, Any other last-minute requests?

Max waited for a snarky reply from Alya.

Nah, we’re good. Thanks Again.

Max sent a thumbs up emoji and put the phone to the side.

“Markov. Adjust the timing of the mass email to 15 minutes after first period.”

The robot turned his mechanical screen to his creator.

“Consider it done”

“Thanks Markov.”

Max took a deep breath and called Kim back.

“So, you were saying about the pickle.”

Lila assumed she would be the first to arrive at school. She had made sure to get up earlier than usual so she could slip into the school and make sure everything was set up. To her surprise, she had found the classroom had two students sitting at their desks.

“Alya, Nino. You’re both here early.” Lila did her best not to sound mad about it.

Nino yawned as he drank from the coffee that he had bought with Alya before coming.

“Alya was so hyped about today she couldn’t sleep. So, She called me this morning and asked for a coffee date to help keep her awake.”

Alya was snoozing on her desk face first.

“Maybe get a double shot for her, she seems really exhausted. Wait was this about that paper for the ladyblog she was writing?”

“Wait you know about that?” Nino’s eyes wide, how did Lila know about the article? Was this plan going to backfire? Nino wasn’t sure if he said too much.

“Yea, she called me last night to answer a few questions. She was pretty excited about it. I suppose an article about akumatization would be popular.”

Nino eased himself, it’s clear Lila did not know what was in the article.

“Ah, well she was working on it all weekend.”

“Knowing Alya, that article will be exactly what she needs to get buzz on the blog.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Lila strolled up to her seat, it was clear the exhausted Alya and Drowzy Nino didn’t notice the evidence she had planted under Marinette’s chair. Lila smiled as she thought about how well today would go.

Lila pulled out her stuff and began to survey the classroom. Everything was set up exactly as she had done yesterday. All she needed to do was wait for everyone to show up, and then let the plan go into motion.

Nino sat at his desk, he was pretending to not be paying attention, but he was keeping watch of the devious liar. Lila was sneaky, and his girlfriend was in the middle of a power nap to be observant. Of course, he knew he wasn’t the most convincing fibber, so he would need to be subtle in keeping a close eye on the liar.

Lila had gotten up from her desk and left the classroom for a brief moment. She felt herself shudder.

What is this chill I’m getting, something doesn’t seem right with those two… are they suspicious?

Lila shook the thought out of her head. It was clear that they were just tired, likely on edge from lack of sleep. Getting paranoid would lead to her getting sloppy again. She needed to play this right. Today was the day everything started going her way again.

Marinette was bubbly on her way to school. She couldn’t wait to tell Alya and the girls all about what happened yesterday. She knew that Alya would probably be over the moon, and something like this could only be said in person, texting would ruin the moment.

“Marinette, you might want to slow down.” Tikki pipped up from her bag. “I think someone is nearby.”

The designer slowed her pace a bit.

Marinette closed her bag and turned around to see a blond teen running up to her.

“Adrien?”

Marinette stopped to let the boy catch up.

“I… I wanted to surprise you at the bakery.” He said between breaths. “I wanted to walk with you to school.”

Marinette felt her cheeks warm at the statement.

“But I … miscalculated how far you were from my house and to make up for time… I sprinted.”

“You usually have your bodyguard drive you to class. Is your father okay with you walking to school?”

Adrien finished catching his breath.

“He doesn’t know and it’s probably better that he doesn’t, but I let my bodyguard know in advance. He seemed fine with it… Just as long as I message him when I am at school.”

“Sneaking out of the house to meet with a girl, I didn’t know I was dating a badboy.”

Adrien looked at Marinette with surprise until he realized she was joking. He found himself chuckling.

“Now you know the truth, I also have a leather jacket in my closet.” Adrien said while doing his best to look tough to play up the ‘Bad boy’ look he was trying and failing to portray.

Marinette giggled at that lame attempt. Adrien loved that sound.

“I don’t think I can imagine that. Besides, I like good boys.”

Marinette started walking to school.

Adrien sighed happily before matching her pace to join her.

He reached out his hand to hold hers, still nervous about how to go about this dating thing. Sure enough, Marinette was more than happy to hold his hand.

“I’m up!” Alya exclaimed as she shot up.

“Aw man! Now the moment is gone. I was going to draw on her face.” A pink haired teen frowned, as she held an open marker in her hand but Nino was standing in between her and the formerly sleeping teen.

The reporter quickly gathered her bearings and looked at the smaller teen.

“Like hell you are going to mark up my face.”

“Well now that you’re awake it’s no fun.” Alix commented with dissatisfaction. “Maybe later.”

Alya rolled her eyes. She is too tired to deal with whatever Alix is up to.

“I’m glad you got up, I wasn’t sure I could hold her off any longer.” Nino sighed in relief.

Alya stretched in order to wake herself up from her lethargic state.

“Did school start yet?”

“Not yet, but most of the class is here”

“Anything suspicious with you-know-who?”

“She was the first one to arrive in class after us. She went outside for about 5 minutes then came back into her seat. After that, nothing weird.”

“Okay, and I guess you didn’t notice anything else.”

“Nothing”

“Okay, and why does Alix want to draw on my face so bad? Did she make a bet with Kim?”

“Kim bet her 10 Euros that she wouldn’t be able to do it.”

“She will be out some cash.”

Chloé walked into the classroom with Sabrina following shortly behind. It was apparent that the mayor’s daughter was in a mood.

She looked up to Max’s seat and moved her way up. The robot enthusiast didn’t realize she was there until she slammed her hand on his desk. The sudden action startled him and made him look up at the clearly driven teen.

“I did some digging about your little app.” Chloé spat with disgust.

It took Max a moment to figure out what she was referring to.

“Oh, you mean ‘Soulmate Searcher.”

“I know all about that Soulmate Survey bull crap.”

Max had lost interest in that whole thing after he had some more startling information revealed to him. He had even forgot about the argument he had with Chloé.

“Wait, you’re still hung up on that?”

“You were the one talking about how smart and junk it was. I had Sabrina do some digging.”

Max looked to Sabrina, the poor ginger haired girl had a rough night. Likely researching for Chloé.

“Look, I kind of moved past looking into it. So, let’s just agree to disagree and move on.”

Chloé glared at the glasses wearing teen and snapped her fingers.

On cue, Sabrina dumped at least a couple dozen pages on the desk.

Max really didn’t care about this right now, he had a much more important objective to focus on, this was an annoying distraction.

Astonishingly it was Nathanael that picked up a few of the articles.

“These are all written by the same guy.” The artist commented as he kept changing articles to see if there was a second opinion by someone else.

Curious, some of the other classmates moved to the pile of papers.

“Some of these are also old articles, like back when the app wasn’t even a thing here.” Myléne chimed in.

“One of the articles even has an author’s note on the bottom that says that this article holds inaccuracies that no longer apply.” Rose Quipped.

Chloé turned a fiery gaze at Sabrina.

“I told you to research thoroughly!”

“You told me to find anything that was written dismissing the app as fake. This was what I was able to find…”

Chloé grumbled.

“Whatever! I know that app is crap.”

Chloé stormed down to her desk and threw herself on her seat, only to hear a creaking noise and then fall with a painful slam to the floor. The loud noise blocking out the sound of the morning bell.

Chloé’s scream was loud enough to draw the attention of Miss Bustier who ran into the room.

“Is everyone alright? I heard a scream?” The young teacher clearly frantic with worry.

The class was silent as the teacher noticed Chloé on the floor clearly in pain from her bench seat that had fallen apart.

Lila was the first to speak up.

“Chloé’s seat fell apart.”

Lila dashed down to Chloé.

“Are you alright Chloé, that looked like it hurt.” Lila offered her hand to the fallen student.

Chloé took Lila’s hand up and grumbled as she covered her bruised tailbone.

“I want whoever made the seat fired and jailed!”

“It probably broke from the weight of your ego.” Juleka commented dryly.

Chloé turned to the long-haired teen with a grimace.

“I bet you did this you, emo freak!”

“Chloé! We do not insult our classmates.” Miss Bustier scolded. “I understand you are hurt from the fall, but it isn’t right to lash out at your classmates. Apologize to Juleka.”

Chloé moved turned away from the class with a huff.

“I am not saying anything until the jerk that destroyed my seat pays.”

Alya took notice that Lila was digging through the seat. What could she be…”

“Umm, I found something…” Lila’s words caught the classes attention.

Lila pulled out a hair tie that looked familiar.

“Isn’t that Marinette’s Hair tie?” Sabrina piped up.

‘That manipulative bitch! Lila did this!” Alya felt her thoughts scream at her.

“I knew that she was in on this! She made sure she wasn’t here to catch me off guard!”

“It could just be a coincidence.” Lila spoke out. “Marinette isn’t even here yet. It might have gotten lost under here by accident.”

Alya felt her mind screech, this wasn’t adding up, why would Lila bother with the hair tie? What was Lila planning?

Most of the class had gotten out of their seats to look to see the situation.

Max took a closer look at the collapsed seat.

“There are no breaks in the boards, and no screws or bolts to be found. I calculate a 98.7% chance that someone must have removed them from the chair. Someone did sabotage Chloé’s seat.”

The class gasped in surprise.

“I knew it! And I bet it was Marinette that did it!”

“Marinette would never do such a thing!” Alya jumped up. “I know my girl would not stoop to something like this, even if it is Chloé.”

“Perhaps we can check her locker. If there is nothing involving the seat we can clear her.”

“Wait! You can’t just invade Marinette’s privacy.”

Miss Bustier pondered for a moment.

“If we are going to search Marinette’s locker, she will need to be present. She should give her consent before we invade her space.”

“But if she is responsible she would obviously not want us to check!” Chloé shouted. “I will call my daddy and he will have the cops on the case!”

“T-That won’t be necessary!” Miss Bustier eased. She hated how much influence Chloé had thanks to her father’s position. She couldn’t just punish Chloé or simply tell her not to act out. Principal Damocles made sure to explain the delicate balance they had to maintain thanks to Chloé’s presence. She can’t teach her students if Chloé starts getting the police involved.

“I will discuss the concern with the Principal. I am sure he will make the right call and we will decide how to go about this. In the meantime, everyone please sit in your seats. Chloé, if you are still hurt, please have someone escort you to the nurse’s office.”

“I will not be leaving until I get whoever did this expelled.” Chloé hissed.

“In that case, sit in one of the open seats until we can get the seat fixed. Sabrina, you as well.”

The red head teacher made her way out of the classroom.

Chloé turned her attention to the class.

“Alright, I don’t care what Bustier says, Marinette clearly was responsible for destroying my chair and I want some justice!”

“Chloé, just because Marinette’s hair tie was under the desk doesn’t mean that she did it. Besides, when could she have done it?” Ivan pointed out.

“Well then who else could have done it?”

“To be fair, all of us pretty much hate your guts, it could be anyone.” Alix commented as she leaned back.

“So, you admit you did it!”

“I wish! But nah, this wasn’t my handy work. I would have signed it. Because that, would be art.”

The tomato haired artist chuckled at his friend’s comment. Alix gave him a quick fistbump.

Chloé growled.

“You have just as much of an idea who did this as we all do.” Myléne stated firmly.

“Sabrina!”

“Yes Chloé?”

“Who have I wronged in this classroom?”

“Um… everyone.”

“I meant recently.”

“Right… lets see…”

Sabrina went into her phone.

“You had that argument with Max about the app, insulted Myléne’s favorite charity and called the cause stupid, Told Rosé that the reason Prince Ali hasn’t written back to her in the last few weeks was because he was sick of her, told kim his swim cap makes him look like a bowling pin, mocked Nathanael and Alix’s art project collaboration, and… Oh! You also made fun of Marinette’s design sketches. I think that was it for last week. It was a light week.”

“So, there are the obvious suspects.” Chloé exclaimed with a smirk.

“Now if Marinette would get here we would have a perfect line up.”

Lila smirked at the little show, this was all going perfectly. Naturally Marinette would show up just as Miss Bustier got the principal involved. That would lead to the search of the designer’s locker, where Lila had expertly planted the screws and tools that she used to dismantle Chloé’s seat, along with items that she took from other lockers, including her own stuff to make sure Marinette got punished. Based on what she knew, that would be enough to get Marinette suspended, possibly expelled. Either one would work out wonderfully, and with that she could start destroying each person she cared about one by one.

“What about a line up?” a teen boy voice called out.

Chloé turned to see Adrien and Marinette entering the classroom.

The room was silent as the two teens walked in. The whole class watching the duo intently, as if seeing something quite shocking.

“Is something wrong?” Marinette inquired, looking around the room.

She noticed the dismantled bench seat.

“Chloé what happened to your seat?”

Chloé’s jaw opened as she approached.

“Forget the seat! What is this!” She gestured to the two with clear shock and disgust.

Adrien and Marinette look at the mayor’s daughter with confusion before looking at what she was gesturing to. The two realized they had been holding hands the entire time.

“Oh, I think we all know what it is.” Alya’s comment burst through the silence, a smug smile on her face.

“But it would be best to hear it from them.” Nino chimed in, assisting his girlfriend in the playful ribbing of their best friends.

Marinette and Adrien felt their faces turn red and they let go of the other’s hand.

“Well actually its uh, my hand was… I mean his hand was… I …” Marinette tried to get the words out but felt her mouth failing her.

Adrien put his hand on her shoulder.

“Is it wrong for a guy to hold hands with a girl he is dating?”

Marinette felt her heart in her ears as he said that.

Adrien then looks to Nino.

“It is right? Im still new to this and the shows I watched kind of made it a big deal so Im not sure.”  He whispers.

Nino nods.

Adrien looks back at Chloé now more assured.

“This is ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!”

Chloé stomped away from the two, just unable to handle the truth.

The mayor’s daughter walked out the door complaining about how she was going to be sick at this.

The class quickly swarmed the around the new couple and Alya slipped back to allow the class to ask them questions. She would get the details later.

Lila felt herself seething despite the smile she had on her face. This was not how things were supposed to be going. Even with her plan, Marinette won’t be miserable.

“Not going in?” Alya asked,

“Huh? Oh, I am sure I can ask questions later. Everyone has been waiting on this longer then I have.” The brunette commented as she kept up her façade.

She would have a word with Gabriel about this… actually she might not have to. If her plan goes well, Gabriel would never let Adrien be with someone that could besmirch the Gabriel brand. If word got out that Adrien’s new girl was kicked out of school, the tabloids would rip the girl apart for her. That thought soothed her.

“Besides, we should be concerned about what happened with Chloé’s seat. Max did say it was sabotage. We should focus on getting to the bottom of that.”

Alya looked at the clock. She noticed with everything going on, it was well into first period.

“I think something more important will come up.”

Alya went back to her desk with a sly smile on her face.

Lila felt a chill go down her spine. What did she mean by that?

As if on cue, everyone noticed their phones going off.

The class stop asking the couple questions as they look at their phones, wondering what was with the sudden message

Lila quickly pulled out her phone. Her face went pale as she looked at the attachment titled.

‘The True face of Lila Rossi’

Mr. Damocles was staring at his computer with shock as Miss Bustier stood in the room.

“It’s unbelievable… the records that we were waiting on for Miss Rossi are all here.”  The principle spoke in bewilderment.

The young teacher watched as Mr.Damocles looked through each file.

“So many reprimands… dozens of student and teacher complaints…. False doctor’s notes…”

“This can’t be real, right? Lila has been a good student. Sure, she had a leave of absence but that was because she was abroad with her mother.”

“These documents are all legitimate. They are all from the previous school Miss Rossi attended, she had failed to notify us of any of the following when she was enrolled here! We could never have accepted a student with such a notorious record.” The principal sternly noted.

“Mr.Damocles please, it could be possible that Miss Rossi was scared about the whole situation. Perhaps this was her chance to start things right.”

“Caline, your kindness and compassion for your students is quite admirable, however, these records still show that there was a lot Miss Rossi has been hiding from us. I will be requesting that she and her mother have a discussion with me. After that, we will decide on whether she can stay Dupont.”

“But what about the issue with Chloé’s chair?”

“You mentioned that Chloé is not injured? Then it can wait until after we sort things out with Miss Rossi.”

“Understood.”

The young teacher left the office, she began to start questioning her actions as a teacher. Was Lila really a bad egg? Was she an awful teacher for not realizing that Lila had been lying to her? She stopped at the door to her classroom when she heard the sound of her students talking.

Lila could feel everything falling apart around her as she watched her classmates look at their phones with interest.

She needed to find a way out of this. She needed to think of something fast.

“Lila, is this true?” Nathanael asked in surprise.

The rest of the class looking up from their phones, their expressions a mix of anger, hurt and shock. Marinette and Adrien seemed to be the only ones that seemed unsurprised by the message.

Lila racked her brain for several seconds, until the perfect lie crafted itself in her brain.

Lila fell to her knees and started to cry.

“I thought I was free of that cyber bully from my old school…” Her words hitting the right notes.

“Cyber bully?” Rose spoke up.

Lila knew she had landed one person that was willing to believe. And much like a composer, she crafted her symphony of deceit.

“Yes, you see. Back at my old school, there was this guy I was friends with. He was a smart guy with computers, almost as smart as Max.”

“Wait, if you were friends, why is he bullying you?” Kim inquired.

Most of the class was being pulled in by Lila’s thread.

“He had a huge crush on me, while I did think he was nice, I just couldn’t see him as anything more than a friend. I told him that after he confessed to me. After that however, things started to turn bad. It started out with some minor things, a couple of spam emails, a text with a pop up scare. I could tell he was hurt so I didn’t call him out on it, I was sure he would heal and things could go back to normal… but then he started getting worse.”

“He started hacking into my phone, sending out messages to my other friends, making it seem like I hated them.” Lila made her voice more frantic, as if living through a trauma.

She could tell the class that had been looking at the phones with rage were now back under her thumb, she had them.

“I lost all of my friends, no matter what I tried to say, they shut me off. That guy destroyed my friend group. I went up to him and demanded he come clean. He refused, laughing as he insulted me. He had decided he was going to ruin my life.”

Kim went to the teacher’s desk to get Lila the tissue box.

Lila looked up at the swimmer.

“Thank you.”

She took a tissue to dab her eyes.

“The jerk then hacked into the school’s records, changing my grades, my attendence, he even messed with my medical records at the school! It was hell!”

“Lila…” Myléne moved to her side.

“So, when my Mom got the job to work at the French embassy here, I was so excited. I could finally get away from that cruel monster’s clutches… but so much for that! Now you all hate me and think I am this awful person!” Lila cried into her arms.

“We don’t think that!”

“Of course, we wouldn’t believe that!”

Lila hid her sinister grin as she heard the comments of her classmates. She had easily pulled the wool over their eyes. Much like before she had escaped the jaws of defeat with her deception.

Until the sound of her voice was coming from another source.

Lila looked up and felt the world shake as the horror she assumed she avoided was being undone by what she had gone so far to get rid of. The recording.

“Of course, it was all lies. Knowing Spielberg? Being friends with a prince? All of those outlandish lies and yet everyone ate it up so easily. I don’t know whether it’s something in la seine but everyone here is super gullible. Everyone in that class is stupid enough to believe anything! I didn’t even try to come up with clever lies. Have none of them even heard of Google? I was able to have them eating out of the palm of my hand like the sheep they are. So when I say I could ruin your life Marinette, I can ruin your life without even lifting a finger.”

Alya paused the recording.

“That… that isn’t me! That was clearly an edited audio file!”

But at this point, everyone in the class had stopped buying into Lila’s words.

“There’s an additional 44 minutes on here that say otherwise.” Alya’s statement was like a dagger in the leg. “

The class backed away from Lila, their expressions were all the same now. They were not happy with her. They were hurt.

“Lila… how could you?” Rose spoke softly, as if holding back tears.

Juleka hugged her close.

“We gave you our friendship?”

“You threatened our friend!” Kim shouted angrily.

“We trusted you!”

“Did you even care about us?”

A sea of comments from each student that was hurt by the revelation started to fill the room.

Adrien and Marinette’s expressions read more as surprise than anything else. The two had no idea Lila would be exposed like this. The class was hurt by Lila’s actions, and now she was paying the price.

Marinette moved to where alya was.

“So, this was why you were so busy.”

“Yea, and I see I wasn’t the only one whose been busy.”

Marinette had a soft smile with her friend’s comment.

“You’re the best. You know that, right?”

“No, If I was I would’ve had your back sooner. I’m sorry it took so long to come around.”

“You are still the best.”

Alya hugged the designer.

“I’m serious, after this. I want details on you and Mr. Model.”

“Deal.”

Lila did her best to try and contest the comments, trying to find some way to dispute them, but her words were falling on deaf ears. She could tell that no matter what she said, no matter what she did, it was over. She had lost.

Lila turned her attention to Marinette, her eyes seeing red.

“You, this was all your doing!”

Adrien went in front of Marinette, as if to protect her in case Lila tries to attack her.

“No Lila, you did this to yourself.” The words coming from the blond were colder then ice.

“Adrien, you don’t seriously believe all this…”

“I tried to be your friend, we all did. But you lied to our faces, you hurt our friends, you threatened Marinette. Those are things I can’t forgive.”

Lila glared at Marinette.

“Are you going to hide behind him! Have you nothing to say!?”

Marinette expected to have a whole speech ready the moment the truth was revealed, but she never expected everything to fall into place like this. Marinette felt pity for the exposed liar.

She walked past Adrien and looked into Lila’s eyes.

“I’m sorry that you didn’t think the real you was good enough for us to get to  know.”

Lila acted as if she had been struck in the face. She lost the last of what remained of her tact. She was being pitied!

“You will pay for this! You don’t get to ruin my life without consequences!”

“Is it because you’re getting an akuma from your buddy, Hawkmoth?”

Everyone turned to the ladyblogger, who pointed to her phone.

“You might want to check the Ladyblog.”

Lila suddenly felt a pit of unfathomable despair hit her. What had that blogger done?

Lila forced herself to go to the ladyblog, and on the front page on the site.

Friend of Ladybug or Akuma Collaborator? The Truth on Lila Rossi

Right underneath was security footage of her grabbing an akuma for herself.

This was the absolute worst-case scenario.

Lila ran to the door. She needed to leave. She needed to escape. She needed some way to clean all of this up, but she was stopped. A clearly distraught teacher at the door. Tears rolling down her face and expression that no student has ever seen on the young teacher’s face. Sorrow.

“Lila, I need you to come to the Principal’s office.”

Everyone stood by and watched silently as Miss Bustier took the lying student away.

“Miss Bustier it isn’t what you think!”

The young teacher didn’t say a word as Lila tried to talk her way out. She was hurt by her students lies, the anguish she put her other students through, and never once looked into it. She felt like a failure of a teacher, she had defended her and this was what she came to find? It was unforgivable.”

She had brought the girl to Mr.Damocles’ office.

“Sit down Miss Rossi.” The owl-like man in the chair stated firmly.

Lila obeyed as Miss Bustier wiped her tears and looked at the Principal.

“Sir, I have some rather disturbing news I found out about Lila.”

“No need Caline. I had found the recording at the end of the documents.”

Lila couldn’t feel more mortified by this. This was some kind of twisted nightmare.

Lila of course wasn’t expecting the next person to walk through the door.

“Mamma?”

A masked villain smiled as the window opened to let light into the empty room.

“This is it! This was the anguish I was waiting for! Lila Rossi, you will be my greatest akuma yet.”

He took a butterfly into his hand and turned into an akuma.

“Fly away my little akuma! And evilize her!”

The black buttefly left the lair and began to fly out and find the source of the negative energy.

“Mayura, it is your turn.”

The blue clad villainess step forward, plucking a feather from her fan and turning it a sinister blue.

She blows the feather away into the wind, following the butterfly.

“Fly away my beautiful amok, enhance and hone that despair into a mighty power.”

The two villains watch the sky light as they await to make contact.

“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. This will be the end of Ladybug and Chat noir.”

Lila ran out of the school, it was bad enough that people found out the truth about her, But her momma?! She couldn’t watch her mother’s heart break as she learned the truth. She ran out of the office before they said anything to her.

‘I need to find a way out of this. Marinette and Alya ruined everything! Now I am the class outcast and what’s worse, my momma is going to find out everything! I need to stop this! I need to get everyone back under my control.

Lila made her way to an alley way and hid behind a dumpster. She wasn’t sure if she was being followed, but she could not risk it. Perhaps she could talk with Mr. Agreste, he could pull enough strings that could… no, he would likely dismiss her. Her usefulness was done. With everyone against her, there was no way she could do anything.

She sat and let her despair run over her. There was nothing she could do, she felt so powerless. Everything she had been building up to. Everything she had wanted was all in reach… and yet it was ripped away from her! She would do anything to have things back to how they were, back when she was in charge!

She heard something approaching. She looked up, clearly not ready to face her punishment. But what she didn’t expect to see was a butterfly coming her way.

The butterfly made its way to the silver charm bracelet on her wrist and a feather made its way into her earing. A butterfly outline appeared over her face.

“The despair of having everything you have built come crashing down.” A familiar deep voice spoke

“All of that effort dashed in one catastrophic moment.” A feminine voice continued the line, a new yet equally sinister tone.

“You were the queen of deception until they shattered your crown”

“The pain you have suffered by that horrible event.”

“What you wouldn’t give to fix everything and gain that power over others you once had.”

“Hawkmoth, so you show yourself. I was thinking you forgot all about me. And it seems you made a new friend.” Lila interrupted their eerie rhyme.

“Oh, as if I couldn’t forget about my most competent akuma.” Hawkmoth Praised.

“I am Mayura, partner of Hawkmoth, I have been watching you closely Miss Rossi.” Mayura introduced herself. “It appears you have yourself in a much more devastating predicament then before.”

“It’s all your akuma’s fault, it’s all Marinette’s fault… Its all of their faults!’

“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is. I am going to give you the power to get those classmates of yours back under your power, no, all of Paris under your control. You will topple Paris with an army of unquestionably loyal akuma.”

“And I will give you an ally that will obey any order from you without question.”

The Italian Exchange student loved the sound of that.

“Let me guess, all I need to do is to get Ladybug and Chat noir’s miraculous.”

“Good girl. Do we have a deal?”

“Crushing Ladybug will be therapeutic right about now. I’ll have that entire school under my foot, along with those miserable brats that ruined my life.”

“Very well! I grant you the power to reveal the akuma lying underneath each person with your masks! Show the world who you truly are, Masquerade.”

Chapter Text

“Lila!” Mrs. Rossi cried out after her daughter left the room in a hurry. The diplomat was ready to run after her only daughter.

“Mrs. Rossi, a moment please.” Principal Damocles asked with a demeanor that was stern yet not too harsh.

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