milarqui

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady: Zombizou

Directory | Prime Queen

“As requested, I looked into whether or not the Bee or Cat has ‘extra’ powers,” Master Fu said, passing the pages on the Grimoire as Adrien looked on, his mind still on the events of the previous day.

“Hm,” he noncommittally said, distracted.

“There is something here, but…” Fu continued, fingering the characters in a page underneath a picture of Marigold's top. “It's unclear, as usual. Something about powers manifesting in times of great need. But my training didn't include decoding ancient vague posts.”

Fu shook his head.

“From what I gather, it's dependent on the holder to unlock any new–”

That was when he noticed Adrien was not paying his full attention.

“Is something on your mind, Adrien?” he asked, shaking him off his mental elucubrations.

“Huh? Ah, no, nothing! Thank you for updating me, Master!” he quickly replied, standing up to get ready to leave. After a few words of goodbye, Adrien left the shop and closed the door behind him.

“You didn't tell him you think Goldilocks might be Pigtails,” Plagg pointed out, and Adrien looked away, uncomfortable.

“Uhh…” he said, trying to find an answer that would actually work, only for Plagg to nod at him.

“Good choice. If you find out her identity, you'll have to give up your Miraculous.”

“Well, that's dumb. And shouldn't it be the other way around?” Adrien pointed out. “Giving the Black Cat to a noob at this point would be a disaster. Either way, it's not like I have proof. No need to involve Master Fu.”

“Right…” Plagg awkwardly replied.

—

Meanwhile, at another house near Françoise Dupont, Marinette was talking with Pollen on a similar matter.

“Pollen, should I try to find out Chat Noir's identity?” she asked her Kwami partner, who nodded with a grin.

“Whatever you think is best!” she replied.

Pollen was not up to date with current protocols, needless to say.

—

The next day, all of Marinette's classmates were ready to celebrate the day they had been preparing for the past weeks.

“I drew Mme. Bustier as a superhero for her birthday,” Nathaniel explained, “cuz she's always solving problems!”

Their teacher's birthday.

“I wish her solutions included less hugging,” Nino replied with a deadpan look.

“My gift is to thank her for the meditation minute,” Mylène said as she got her present on the table. “It keeps me calm.”

“Yeah, free nap time is awesome!” Kim added, causing Ivan to roll his eyes.

“Kim, that's not the point of meditation,” the gentle giant pointed out.

“I, for one, am a big fan of our morning compliment time,” Lila said, sparkling as she twirled around with a smile. “Isn't it great to start the day exchanging compliments?”

We all know why you enjoy it, Alix, Max, and Nathaniel thought as they thought of the latest such event.

—

Three days before

It was morning compliment time, and Mme. Bustier had picked two girls she could tell were having some difficulties with each other (or, as her students would put it, hated each other's guts) so they would say nice things about each other. Maybe this would help them become friends!

Or so she thought. because, as it turned out, people had the ability of making insults sound like praise, and neither Chloé nor Lila were shy about it.

“Oh, Chloé, I love how confident you are in your makeup skills,” Lila said, grinning at the Mayor's daughter, “despite being a total amateur!”

“Hmph! Well, I love how entertaining it is when you lie about having an amazing life even though you're a total nobody!” Chloé fired back.

“O-ho! You know, it's really brave of you to wear so much white when your fake tan is so runny.”

Chloé glared at the smirking Italian girl… while Mme. Bustier kept smiling, oblivious to what was really going on.

—

“What about you, Marinette?” Adrien asked. “I'm sure you came up with something awesome, as usual.”

“Heheh˜” she giggled, pulling out the box she had prepared. “I got her favorite shade of lip balm, and I made a makeup back with the first thing Mme. Bustier taught us: ‘If we want to change the world, we must all learn to love each other’.”

“AWW!” several of her classmates said.

“Isn't that lesson kinda… juvenile?” Alya asked with a grimace, which Marinette answered to with a side-eye.

“Well, she's been teaching some of us since we were six,” she replied as she put things back in place.

“Hey Chloé, what did you get Mme Bustier?” Sabrina asked with a smug look on her face.

“Ugh! Uh…” Chloé groaned as she tried to find an answer, but Marinette interrupted.

“C'mon, Sabrina, you know Chloé didn't get anything just like every year since Cours Preparatoire.”

“Whatever,” Chloé said, looking away and crossing her arms. “All that nonsense about compliments and love? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!”

“What a shocker,” Marinette sarcastically replied as she opened her locker and put her present inside. “Caring about someone other than herself would require Chloé to have a heart.”

“Um, of course I have a heart? I could even buy yours,” Chloé replied, causing Marinette to roll her eyes at Chloé’s stupidity as she closed the locker.

—

The door to Marinette's locker opened again, but this time it was Chloé at the other side, marker in hand, as she grabbed the box.

“I can't believe I have to take my own cap off my own marker,” she complained. “What I go through to make sure Dupain-Cheng knows her place.”

—

“BON ANNIVERSAIRE, MME. BUSTIER!” the class cheered as their teacher entered the classroom, looking at the small pile of presents on the table.

“You're all so sweet, thank you!” the teacher said, smiling and blushing at her students’ generosity.

“Oh, Marinette made that one!” Alya said, pointing at the present that was closest to Mme. Bustier, who gently opened it… to find a box with an ugly scribble made with marker and covering what looked like a beautiful sewing of a sentence she could barely make out.

“Huh?! What's this?” the teacher asked, showing her students the contents.

“WHAT?!” Marinette shouted, turning to glare at Chloé. “I know you did this, CHLOÉ BOURGEOIS!”

Mme. Bustier raised her hands, trying to calm her student down.

“Now, we don't know that it was Chloé–”

“Of course it was Chloé!” Marinette interrupted, pointing at the blonde's face, who wasn't even bothering to hide how pleased she was. “Just look at her smug face!”

“Seriously, Chloé?!” Alix shouted.

“Why do you have to make everyone around you miserable?!” Nino yelled.

“Students, calm down. We don't want to be upset on my birthday, do we?” she asked, before checking the box over. “Well, I think it's a wonderful present. And I'll be able to think of both of you when I use it!”

Something inside of Marinette… snapped.

“Ex-CUSE ME?!” she shouted, unable to comprehend what was going on. Mme. Bustier looked at her student and walked up to the door.

“Marinette, would you come with me, please?” she gently asked, opening the door to the corridor, as Marinette slouched in shock.

“What is happening right now?” she mumbled.

“Alya, don't let things get out of hand while we're gone,” the teacher commanded, and Alya nodded.

“Oh, I'll keep us right on track,” she replied, as everyone else in the room aimed their death glares at Chloé… who suddenly realized she might have made a miscalculation as thirteen people made their best to drill holes into her with their eyes.

—

Hawkmoth had noticed it. How could he not? Such anger was usually the type that produced the best Akumas.

Yet… he also noticed who was this angry, and he knew all too well what had happened every other time an Akuma aimed at Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

But… it might be his best chance.

He sent the butterfly.

“Please let this be worth going after the girl for,” he said as he saw the black Lepidoptera vanish through one of the windows in his lair. “No risk no reward, I guess.”

—

As soon as they were outside, Mme. Bustier put a hand on Marinette's shoulder… who wasn't feeling placated at all.

“Chloé vandalized my work and I'm getting punished?” she asked, morose.

“Don't be silly, Marinette. You’re not in trouble.”

“But you are punishing me,” she fired, making Mme. Bustier lift her hand. “You're giving Chloé credit for my gift. My time and energy and hard work. That's punishing me.”

Mme. Bustier remained silent for a moment, and for that moment Marinette thought she might have got through her…

“... as class representative, I want you to be a good example for the class.”

Nope, she hadn't. Marinette felt her eye twitch.

“Chloé is capable of great things, but she only thinks of herself because she doesn't know how to love.”

The twitching became more intense.

“But you can show her how! You just have to forgive Chloé!”

Something snapped. Again.

This time, it was any kind of self-control.

And Marinette glared at her teacher.

“ARE YOU ACTUALLY KIDDING ME?!” she yelled, for once in her life completely furious.

“Marinette–” Mme. Bustier tried to interrupt, but Marinette didn't care.

Chloé had stepped on her berserk button, and Mme. Bustier had not only done the same, but acted as if it were perfectly good.

“NO! Chloé did this maliciously! And she's not even SORRY!” Marinette continued yelling, her frustration pouring through. Almost ten years of her teacher mollycoddling Chloé, ignoring everyone else's requests in favor of favoring the mayor's daughter, had accumulated. And with the dam burst open, she just released it all. “All ‘forgiving’ her does is tell her that no matter how awful she is, she'll get away with it! Or even be praised for it!”

“That's–” Mme. Bustier attempted to stop her, but Marinette was on a roll, and no teacher was going to stop her.

“And what about me?! Why should I ever do nice things when I'm told to suck it up when my efforts are spat on?! Why do Chloé's feelings matter more than mine, the wronged party?!”

“Now, listen here–” Mme. Bustier said. Marinette could recognize the teacher was getting angry. But Marinette recognized something else.

She did not care.

“Well, I'm done! If you don't want to punish Chloé, fine, I can't make you! Just like you can't make me pretend Chloé isn't the meanest, rudest, most despicable person I've ever met!”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

Oh, resorting to full names? Marinette's subconscious noted. Time for the coup de grace.

“All that's necessary for evil to succeed, is for good people to do nothing,” she said, giving the teacher a look as she walked away. “And you did nothing, Mme. Bustier.”

With such Parthian shot she left, not wasting the time to look back at her teacher. 

Mme. Bustier had sowed the wind, and now the harvest had included hurricanes.

And, as she walked off, Marinette gave a sigh of relaxation. That had felt amazing.

—

Hawkmoth realized that his original target had somehow managed to get rid of her negative feelings - or, at least, enough of them that she would be hard to Akumatize. But right next to her was another potential target… one that was angry with his original target.

“Well, switching from the girl to someone upset with the girl is marginally better, I guess,” he said, ordering the butterfly to move for the new target. “In for a penny, in for a pound. I mean, I already sent out the butterfly…”

—

“Chloé, you're worse than Hawkmoth!” Alya yelled.

“You've caused half the Akumas in Paris!” Alyx shouted.

Not that Chloé cared.

“Is it my fault that I'm better than all of you?”

“Just because your mom forgets your birthday doesn't mean you get to take it out on Marinette or Mme. Bustier,” Sabrina venomously fired, causing Chloé to turn to her former friend, furious.

“How dare you?! I don't have to sit here while you spill my life story! Keep your big mouth shut, Raincomprix!” Chloé yelled back, putting all her stuff back into her bag and then moving to leave the classroom, just as the door opened to let Marinette in. “Out of my way!”

“Hey!” Marinette shouted as Chloé shoved her aside.

“Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!” she grumbled as she left the classroom. “Where does she get the gall–huh?!”

“Zombizou, I'm Hawkmoth.”

“Oh, great,” she complained. First her moron classmates and now she'd have to deal with her moron sidekicks and her moron teacher.

“Your student spoke so hatefully towards you. I'll give you the power to spread love and compassion in exchange for the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous,” Hawkmoth said, and Chloé decided to carefully get herself out of the way to avoid getting caught in today's nonsense.

“I won't stop until everyone on Earth feels the love!” the teacher declared as Chloé reached the stairs. “Starting with Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

Chloé stopped.

Now… maybe she didn't need to leave so fast…

—

“GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE!” Mme. Bustier said as she reentered the classroom - but this was clearly not their teacher.

“Wha–?!”

“Mme. Bustier?!”

Because… to be honest, what her teacher was wearing now was making Marinette's eyes water. The teacher's usually loose brown hair was now tied in a green-gray bun held together with two massive needles, her face had a pink domino mask over her face, and her outfit was now black with a large pink heart on the torso and more hearts spread over it.

Marinette liked pink as much as the next girl, but this was an abomination.

“From now on, everyone is going to hug and kiss and feel the love!” the Akumatized teacher declared, causing Alyx to grimace.

“But not, like, literally, right…?” she asked.

“Starting with my role model student, Marinette! MWAH!”

“AH!” Marinette shouted as she jumped aside, while a small black heart slammed just behind where she'd just moved away from. “What the heck is that?!”

“Tch. Missed.”

“Mme. Bustier!” Rose shouted. “Snap out of it!”

“I'm not Caline Bustier anymore! I am Zombizou!”

Quickly, the students grabbed their backpacks and tossed them at the Akuma.

“Sorry for this, Mme. B!” Nino shouted while jumping off his seat.

“Ah! OW!” Zombizou yelled as she got slammed by multiple heavy backpacks.

“Get out, quick!” Marinette ordered, and everyone followed, knowing that putting distance between themselves and the villain was their best option to survive.

“You won't escape my love!” Zombizou declared. “MWAH!”

And the heart flew… straight into Sabrina's neck.

“AH!”

“Hahaha, smoochies my poochies!”

—

As the class ran, Sabrina almost tripped down the stairs and held onto the rail, her face flushing.

“I… is it suddenly very hot in here?” she asked, trying to stay on her feet as her mind clouded.

“Huh?” Adrien asked, wondering what had happened to their friend.

“‘Brina?” Lila asked in a worried tone.

“Can you keep going?” Adrien asked.

“Try to make it to the nurse's office at least!” Lila encouraged, even as Sabrina sat on the but stairs.

“Lila…” Sabrina mumbled… before she tackled Lila, her pupils somehow replaced with pink hearts, and pushing her to the ground. “Kissou~!”

“Wah!” Lila yelled in shock, and stunned as she was, she was unable to keep Sabrina from… kissing her in the cheeks.

“Sabrina! Stop smearing your lip gloss all over me!” Lila begged, embarrassed. “Now's not the time to realize how amazing I am!”

But then, when Sabrina stopped kissing her, Lila had the same pupils, and she tackled the closest person - Mylène.

“Kissou~!”

“Ah!”

“Mylène!” Ivan shouted, worried about what was going on, but one thing was clear: this was starting to get out of hand – particularly as Mylène started to turn around.

“It's contagious! Don't let yourself get kissed!” Alya warned him... but Ivan chose to stand at the bottom of the stairs, as the three girls tried to rush him, shouting 'Kissou~!'.

“Go! I'll hold them off!” Ivan shouted.

“Ivan!”

---

Nathaniel ran to the Art Club room: he knew that splitting from the rest of his class was tempting fate, per every horror movie he had seen, but he had to do something! His friends there were unaware of the newest threat!

“Quick, you have to hide!” he shouted as he opened the door. “There's an Akuma, and–!”

“Go on, Nathaniel,” his teacher's Akumatized form's voice sounded right behind him. “Tell us all about the Akuma.”

He wasn't the type to throw ugly words around, but he felt that this time, he totally deserved to be able to do so.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU–

Unfortunately, he got hit by Zombizou's kiss before he could utter that aloud.

---

As his classmates ran upstairs to avoid all the kiss zombies that had suddenly sprung out, caused by Zombizou's power, Adrien realized he had the perfect excuse to get away and transform.

He faked slowing down and looked away, so Nino would be unable to see his face as he lied like a rug.

“Oh, noo, I–I feel faint. I think I– ugh, ki–kissou–”

“Dude, I love you but not enough to makeout with your zombie, stay away!” Nino warned as he followed Juleka to the top floor.

…

He wasn't going to go into how that sounded like. He had enough trouble already.

---

“I'll find you sooner or later, Marinette!”

“Kissou~!”

“You'll have to accept my love!”

“Kissou~!”

“Whether you like it or not!”

If she weren't an Akuma, she'd have probably been piled on by a zillion police officers already.

---

“I don't want to make out with strangers!” Max moaned in distress from his perch on Kim's back, as the survivors of the group holed themselves up in the locker room.

“What do we do?!” Alya asked, still shaking from the shock of everything that happened in the past few minutes.

“We're gonna hide until the heroes fix this!” Marinette ordered, while internally aware that that meant only Chat Noir would be there to do anything.

“Hey.”

“FUCK!” Marinette yelled after the 'heroine' suddenly showed up from within a locker. “Scarlet Lady, what the HECK?!”

Then she realized something was very much out of place.

“Why are you hiding in a locker?”

Scarlet Lady looked on, silently, before turning around and waving her hand.

“Anyways~”

“She ignored me?!”

Though, Marinette wasn't sure why she was that surprised – it wasn't as if Scarlet Lady ever paid attention to anything that wasn't her ego.

“Kissou!”

“Kissou!”

Everyone turned to look at the room's inner window, horrified to realize it was swarming with... well, the kiss zombies created by Zombizou.

“Oh no, they found us!” Kim yelled.

Scarlet Lady ran to the outer window and opened it, pointing upwards.

“Quick, we need to get on the roof!”

The students looked at her, suspicious.

“Why's she suddenly so helpful?” Alya asked, a sentiment shared by everyone else. Scarlet Lady never did anything that didn't benefit her.

Of course, they were completely right in being suspicious.

If I want a front row to the Akuma getting Dupain-Cheng, I'll have to stay with the group for now, the 'heroine' thought, hiding her evil grin from her classmates.

---

Fortunately (and no thanks to Scarlet Lady), the entire group managed to reach the roof, and much more fortunately, Chat Noir landed just next to them as they took a breather, and Marinette pulled out her phone to check the situation.

“Hey everyone! Let's hold off on the usual greetings, yeah?” Chat Noir suggested as Marinette opened her TVi app.

“Hordes of kissing zombies are spreading through Paris – ah!” Mme. Chamack reported, only to get interrupted by Zombizou, who turned to look at the camera.

“I'm coming for you, Marinette! And Chat Noir, Scarlet Lady, and Marigold!” the Akuma declared, and Marinette quickly turned it off, in shock.

“S–She's after me?!” she said, stunned.

“Maybe we should give them what they want,” Scarlet Lady added, and everyone else turned to glare at her.

“Don't even think about it!” Max shouted, clearly angry.

“You'd have to get through us!” Kim added, just as angry as his best friend.

“Come near her and I'll throw you to the zombies myself!” Chat Noir threatened.

“Aw! Guys!” Marinette replied, although she wasn't as happy as she should be. Though ditching me would make it easier to transform.

“Kissouuuu!”

“Kissou!”

“They're getting on the roof!” Nino alerted.

“What do we do now?” Rose asked.

“Over there! A bus!” Marinette suggested, pointing at the large vehicle. “Think you can drive, Chaton?”

“About as well as anyone else, ma belle,” Chat Noir answered, as he tried to think on how to reach it from their current position. “One of us has to throw my belt back to the roof and the other has to catch it–”

“I'll catch the belt!” Scarlet Lady offered, and Marinette and Chat Noir looked at each other.

“Super sus,” they both agreed.

Chat Noir jumped down to distract the zombies after giving his belt to Alix, and they all quickly used it to slide down a cable that led near the bus.

Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough, and...

“Please hit Zombizou extra hard.”

“Kissou!”

“MAX!”

“For being top tier uncomfortable!” their genius classmate said, having moved away to keep the zombies distracted from Marinette just long enough for her to escape.

“Ho–kay!” Kim exclaimed, grabbing Marinette and putting her on the improvised zip line. “Gotta go fast, 'Nette!”

“Wait, what–” and Kim shoved her down. “AHHHHHHHH!”

Scarlet Lady pouted.

There goes my chance to throw her to the zombies.

Then Kim turned, realizing she was still there, and pushed her off the roof.

“Hurry up and save everyone already!” he shouted.

“Wah –!”

“Kissou!”

As he got grabbed by the zombies, Kim noted that he was glad Max wouldn't remember what happened.

---

Thankfully, Marinette's sudden travel down the line was brief, and Rose was there to help her down, while Chat Noir jumped between vehicles to keep the zombies' attention away from the bus.

“Hey-yo! Don't you want to kiss me?!” he taunted, as he happily noticed Marinette was safe(r).

“Kissou!”

“I've got you, Marinette!” the blonde girl said.

“Just be careful behind you, Rose!” Marinette warned, and the two of them ran towards the bus –

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Rose yelled as one of the zombies grabbed her wrist.

“Rose!”

“LET HER GO!”

Juleka's shout was accompanied with a mighty punch that forced the zombie away from her girlfriend.

“Juleka!” Marinette added, as the goth girl pulled them into the bus, and Rose hugged Juleka.

“My hero!” she exclaimed, unaware of the mark left in her right arm.

“That was an awesome right hook!” Alix complimented, and Juleka looked bashful

“I've been, uh, practicing.”

That was when Chat Noir jumped in, and after a few false starts he managed to make the engine run.

“If we get to the Eiffel Tower, we can lure the Akuma out,” Marinette suggested, and Chat Noir nodded.

“Hopefully, Marigold had the same idea–”

“AHHHHHH!”

“Rose, Juleka!”

“G–Get back!” Scarlet Lady shouted, backing off, as Rose turned around.

“Kissouuuu~”

None of them had realized Rose had been hit with a kiss, and she had just given another to Juleka. They had a zombie in the bus!

Which was when Alix jumped ahead and grabbed Rose by the shoulders, keeping her at arm's length.

“Hngh!” she grumbled, struggling to hold her off.

“Alix!” She was doing a lot of yelling her friends' names, wasn't she?

“Kissou! Mwah!” the zombified Rose mumbled as she tried to kiss Alix.

“Everyone! I'm trusting you to protect Marinette! And to get back at Hawkmoth and Zombizou for this nightmare!”

“Mmwah!” Rose kissed Alix, sealing her fate, as Marinette was pulled out of the bus by Alya and Nino, followed by Chat Noir and Scarlet Lady, as they finally reached their destination, still followed by zombified Parisians who were eager to try and kiss them.

“Kissou!”

“Kissou?”

“C'mon, c'mon, faster!” Alya shouted as she pressed the button to open the elevator's doors. They did, and–

“No–!”

“Kissouuu!”

“Mwah!”

“Alya!”

“Get off of her!”

The zombies had lied in wait, and too fast for Alya to avoid before they kissed her. While Chat Noir and Nino were able to force them away, it was too late.

“Alya–!” Marinette cried out, kneeling next to her best friend, and Alya gave her a wan smile.

“Hey, it's okay,” she replied. “Chat Noir and Marigold will save us. So keep yourself safe.”

“For both of us, 'Nette,” Nino added, holding Alya's hand.

“Nino?!” Marinette asked in shock, and Alya gently shoved her towards the elevator.

“You two...” Alya started, then she thought it better. “You better take care of my best girl, Kit-Kat.”

“Of course,” Chat Noir replied, and Scarlet Lady pouted.

“Uh, I'm still here too, you know.”

Nobody cared.

Not when the situation was so dire.

Chat Noir pulled her into the elevator and closed the door, pressing the top floor button.

---

“Don't forget our deal, Zombizou!” Hawkmoth said, glad that he was safely ensconced in his secret lair.

“They won't escape my kiss by hiding out at the Eiffel Tower!” his latest Akuma promised.

He knew it was close! Those Miraculouses were already his!

---

Nino could notice when his girlfriend's resistance to the Akuma's effect collapsed, as her face blushed and her eyes turned into those creepy heart-like pupils.

He sighed.

“It's not the first time we've been in trouble together,” he said, as Alya tackled him.

“Kissouuuuu!”

“Yeah, yeah, 'kissou' or whatever.”

---

As the door closed behind her, Marinette felt her eyes tear up, and looked down to hide them from Chat Noir.

The pain... it felt like her heart was tearing itself apart.

“Why?! Why didn't they protect themselves?!” she cried out, sobbing as the tears cascaded off her eyes and hit the elevator floor. “How could they sacrifice themselves for me?! I HATE THIS!”

“Hey!” Chat Noir gently said, lifting her head and cleaning her tears with his thumb. “Marinette, no one saw it as a 'sacrifice'. They protected you because they love you.”

And when he smiled, so softly and beautifully, her heart forgot for a moment its pain.

“And that's why I'm going to protect you too.”

“Chat Noir...” she replied, stunned. Had he... did he just...

“But also don't get sloppy because I have zero faith in this 'helpful' Scar,” he whispered, making her feel a bit of whiplash from the change of matter, but she had to agree with him.

---

After the long climb up, the elevator's door finally opened, and they were at the tower's highest terrace. They should be safe there, but...

“Damn, they're here too!” Chat Noir complained as they realized there were a few zombies there as well.

“It's not too many, stay sharp!” Marinette told the others.

Here's where you get what's coming to you, Dupain-Cheng! Scarlet Lady thought... and she tossed her yo-yo at Marinette.

Chat Noir, however, had been ready for this, and blocked it with his staff.

“What do you think you're doing, Scar?!” he shouted.

“Chat Noir, look out!” Marinette warned.

In his haste to protect Marinette from Scarlet Lady, he had forgot about the other dangers in the tower.

And the zombies promptly swarmed him.

“AH!”

“CHAT NOIR, NO!”

Chat Noir was able to force them away from Marinette and block their advance with his own body and staff... but his face was now covered in kisses.

“Chat, don't leave me!” she begged, tearing up again.

“Hey, Princess, don't cry. Everything is going to be okay,” he replied, still smiling.

“You don't know that!”

“Marigold will defeat Zombizou, and Scar will fix everything.”

“You haven't even heard from Marigold!” she exclaimed, feeling guilty. “How do you have such faith in her?!”

“She's the best partner in the world, Marinette,” he replied, and the glint in his eyes told her he knew much more than he ought to. “Believe in her like I do.”

“Chaton...”

“If you're done with your spappy moment,” Scar interrupted, tensing the yo-yo rope, and Marinette turned to face her. “Now that all the roadblocks are out of the way, you'll finally get what you deserve for making fun of Chloé!”

She tossed the yo-yo again, but Marinette dodged it (silently thanking her work as Marigold for it).

“Hold still!” Scar shouted.

“Where are your priorities, you menace?!” Marinette angrily yelled, furious that she had just caused her to lose Chat Noir to the zombies.

Not that Scar cared.

“I'm gonna hand you over to the grossest zombie I can find–”

“Kissou!”

And Chat Noir kissed Scar in the cheek.

“Huh?”

Marinette took advantage of the distraction to slip back into the elevator room.

“Ew ew ew, cat lips!” she heard Scar yell, but Marinette had something else in mind.

“B–Buzz On,” she mumbled, and felt the transformation take her.

But it was too late. She collapsed, sat with her hands over her head, as she realized what just happened.

“Scarlet Lady... Scarlet Lady's infected... she can't reverse the Akuma...” she mumbled. She was all alone now... and she had no way to fix what the Akuma had just caused. She... had she lost? “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god–”

“HAHAHA!”

And, of course, just to make things worse, Zombizou showed up.

“Marinette, Marigold, come out come out wherever you are! Witness the final triumph of love before I claim the Miraculouses!”

She couldn't do anything.

She might be wearing a Miraculous... but, right now... she needed an outright miracle.

“What can I do, what can I do?!” she mumbled, and in her despair, her shock, she imagined as if bees were buzzing around her. “I have to... I have to...”

And, like a dam that had overfilled... something burst from within her.

“AHHHHHHHH!” she screamed.

She didn't know if it was pain, or shock, or just plain need to yell out her feelings for everyone to know.

But what sprung from her was an explosion of light.

And suddenly... she knew she could do it.

She had found her miracle.

---

The explosion of light blinded all the zombies surrounding the elevator cabin, and forced Zombizou to cover her eyes.

“WHAT IS THIS LIGHT?!” the Akuma yelled, surprised at the sudden turn of events. She had finally cornered Marinette, and then this had happened. Her sweet hearts were now rubbing their eyes and collapsed on the floor, and so they were out of place when the door opened again. “Marigold, YOU–”

But there, she stopped.

Because Marigold's costume was now, somehow, shining. Black and gold had moved around the surface, with her leggings going from gold to black while her sleeves did the opposite. And she was twirling her top around, looking at her with an impassive face.

“Why–?! What's with that suit?!” Zombizou yelled, but Marigold didn't answer.

She threw her spinning top.

“BEE BALM!”

And suddenly everything was swarming with bees.

But when Zombizou realized the bees were not attacking her, she laughed.

“Ha. Hahaha! All that flashy light and it did nothing, Marigold–”

“Where am I?”

Zombizou turned to look at her sweet hearts... which were no longer under her control!

“Wasn't I at work?”

“What are these glowing bees?”

“WHAT?! My SWEET HEARTS!”

“Marigold freed them from your influence?!” she heard Hawkmoth shout.

Before she could react, try to bring them back under her love –

“Venom.”

“Wai–!”

Too late.

Zombizou became paralyzed.

And the nightmare was finally over.

---

“No fair, why does she get a new look?!” Scar complained.

Nobody cared.

“Wow, you unlocked a new power!” Chat Noir exclaimed, his eyes sparkling in joy as he took in her partner and her new uniform. “I knew you could do it! You really saved the day! How'd you pull it off?!”

Marigold... didn't answer.

She just bonked her head on his chest.

And...

“M–Marigold?!”

… she sniffed.

What happened?

---

As Scar finally deigned to do her work and use the Cure, Mme. Bustier was brought back to normality, and the woman collapsed on her knees as she realized what had just happened.

“Oh no, I... I let my negative emotions take over, how terrible!” she moaned in distress. “I'm terrible.”

“Hm,” Marigold joined in, turning to look at her. “Then I guess that means nearly all your students are 'terrible'.”

“What?! No, that's not–” the teacher protested, but she was interrupted by Chat Noir.

“Exactly. Feeling things like anger or sadness or jealousy is normal, and nothing to be ashamed of,” the hero stated. “How we react, how we use these emotions, is what matters.”

“And the only one to blame for taking things too far is Hawkmoth,” Marigold finished, before the two of them jumped off as her timer began to beep.

And the teacher was left alone with the last of the group.

“Scarlet Lady, you're friends with Chloé, right?”

“Huh?” the 'heroine' said, before realizing what was going on. “Oh, uh, of course! Best friends!”

The teacher approached her, and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I'm so glad she has you as a good influence,” she said, and Scarlet Lady looked nervous as she did so.

“Uh, thanks?”

“Chloé's friends aren't being very nice right now, so I was worried.”

“Oh, that's no big deal,” she declared, smug. “Chloé only surrounds herself with the best after all! They're just being dramatic.”

“Thank goodness!”

And the teacher hugged the 'heroine'.

“Thank you for not leaving Chloé alone.”

“Heheh, yeah, sure.”

---

Marinette mentally sighed in relief as she saw all of her friends and schoolmates milling about, as if they hadn't been struck by the latest Akuma.

Save for the fact that they were actually talking about said Akuma, it was all good.

“Did you wake up before the cure went out?” Mylène asked Alix.

“I saw bees and then ladybugs!” Nino told Adrien, who was nodding with a smile.

“G–Good morning, everyone,” she timidly interrupted.

“Marinette!” her friends exclaimed as they realized she had just arrived.

“Thank you all for protecting me yesterday and...” she sighed again. “I'm really sorry. When Mme. Bustier pulled me out of class, I went off on her. So it's my fault she was Akuma–”

“You really did that?” Ivan asked.

“That's amazing!” Alix and Nathaniel exclaimed together.

“Awesome,” Juleka added.

All of them were actually sparkling.

“H-Huh?!”

Marinette was so shocked she could barely show her shock at how... well her classmates had just taken the news.

“Mme. B didn't hold back pictures even though she knew I was in the bathroom,” Juleka explained, retreating back into her shell.

“And she let me do Chloé's work for years and never stepped in to stop it!” Sabrina added, angry at the reminder of what she had done in the name of her 'friendship'.

“If you mess up a little, she sends you to the Principal,” Ivan joined in, “but I knew I'd look like the bad guy if I said anything negative about the 'nice' teacher.”

Marinette was surprised to see everyone nod to Ivan's words. It was as if everyone had been in the same boat as Ivan regarding their teacher...

“No one blames you for losing it on Bustier,” Adrien said.

“Not when she was letting Chloé get away with bullying you again,” Nino added.

“We'd dive in front of a hundred Akumas to protect you!” Alya offered, smiling.

“Thanks, but PLEASE DON'T!”

She had already been traumatized enough. She didn't care to repeat the experience.

---

When Mme. Bustier arrived to her off, she found a small box with a card where Chloé thanked her for putting her ahead of the others.

Unfortunately, Mme. Bustier didn't realize the real meaning of it, and accepted it as proof that she was right about her student.

---

The Mime

Welp, the memetic molester of Akumas just passed through. Glad to see her leave, not so glad she never learned the lesson.

Apologies for the lateness, I have too many things in hand and too little time to work on them. Still doing this, though, just as the SL comic enters its finish line.

So, that's 514 pages, 205324 words, 1108074 characters.

I'll do my best to get the next chapter ASAP!

#scarlet lady the novel #fanfiction #milarqui #long post #adrien agreste #chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #marigold #adrienette #caline bustier #zombizou #scarlet lady is better than canon

[milarqui]

They're already trying to create support for new settlements in Gaza. Unreal.

[milarqui]

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady: Prime Queen

Directory | Robostus

Scarlet Lady: Prime Queen

Lila observed the bouncing girl, slightly worrying how she would survive the night, while she kept the phone close.

“Thanks for hooking me up with this babysitting gig, Marinette,” she told her classmate. “I need some cash for Mme. Bustier's present.”

It had been a bit of a surprise that all of her classmates were actually into buying presents for their teacher – something she had never done before – but she really wanted to fit in with the rest of the class, and, well, when in Rome...

“No problem! I already had plans anyway,” Marinette replied. “You might want to record Mme. Chamack's new show tonight. Manon conks out at 8:30, so she'll probably miss half of it.”

“Ugh, an hour long interview with Scarlet Lady,” she complained. “Maybe Chat Noir and Marigold will tie her to the chair so she behaves.”

----

Marigold heard the soft laugh of her classmate and made a grimace.

“That's not a bad idea,” she muttered, as she started to break off the conversation.

It was time for... an interview.

----

“Live in 10 and no heroes, Nadja.”

“They'll be here, Arlette!” Nadja Chamack, TVi's star reporter, told her producer, trying not to sweat: regardless of her assurance, she knew something could still go wrong. “We're gonna break records tonight!”

“You better if you want to keep your prime time slot,” Harlette threatened, as per usual (the slot was coveted by most everyone at TVi and she had been lucky to present the idea for Face to Face and have it accepted). Still, she was certain she had what she needed for –

“Hey.”

“WAH!” Nadja involuntarily screamed as the couch that had been empty two seconds before now had two heroes happily sitting without a care. “How– where did you come from?!”

“Trade secret~” Marigold sing-sang, as Chat Noir leaned towards her with his hands on the table.

“Where's Scarlet Lady?” Nadja asked; while she wasn't strictly necessary for tonight's interview, she could help put the cherry on top of her hopes.

“Oh, she'll be here,” Chat Noir reassured her. “At the last possible second. But forget that, let's talk interview.”

Chat Noir jumped back and sat next to Marigold.

“Off the table topics: Identities. Miraculouses in reserve. Power ups–” Chat Noir counted, while the Bee Heroine looked amazed at him.

Wow, he's like a professional... almost like he's done this before... she thought.

----

“5 minutes, 35 seconds... 5 minutes, 33 seconds...”

Sweet almighty forces of creation (which she wielded on a regular basis), could Chloé get more self-absorbed?

“Chloé, just wait for the show to start with the others!” Tikki berated her.

“As if! I have to make a showstopping entrance worthy of my stardom!”

Never mind.

Every time she asked herself that question, Chloé just proved herself more than capable of saying 'yes'.

----

“Whatever. We don't need Scarlet Lady, we have the two that matter.” Arlette said. “Don't forget the goal, Nadja. Boost the ratings to max audience reactions. Make sure that red turns to green.”

Nadja briefly looked down at the electronic bracelet on her left wrist, currently showing a single red line, as a door slammed and a familiar red and black figure swung her way into the studio.

“Helloooo~ The star is here!”

“Scarlet Lady!” one of the cameramen exclaimed, as the aforementioned landed right next to the table.

“Nice of you to join us, Scar,” Chat Noir sarcastically greeted her, while Marigold sighed.

“As if you could start without me!” Scarlet Lady replied, unaware of how wrong she was in that regard.

----

“I'm Nadja Chamack, you're watching Face to Face!”

“Mommy!” Manon exclaimed, while Lila smiled. When she was calmed down, she was a little angel...

“For our first show, we have Paris' favorite protectors, Marigold, Chat Noir and Scarlet Lady!”

----

Elsewhere in Paris, the Césaires were watching the program with interest, as was a good part of the city. Most times, what they could see of their heroes outside the fight were brief moments before they had to leave, so the fact that they would be for a good hour on screen was interesting.

“Thank you for coming,” Nadja Chamack said.

“Thank you for having us, we're happy to be here!” Marigold replied, smiling.

----

“Ooo, Nadja, the Queen Bee is pleased,” Chat Noir teased.

“'Queen Bee'?” Marigold asked, looking at her partner. “Just how many nicknames do you have for me, Chaton?”

“Do you really want to know?” he asked in reply, grinning at her.

“Good evening, my loyal fans!” Scarlet Lady exclaimed, ignoring the conversation behind her as she hogged the camera.

“Um, please sit down,” Nadja asked as she moved on to the first part of her interview.

----

“We see you saving Paris, but we know next to nothing about you,” the reporter said as the camera focused on the heroes.

“Lucky you, you can ask anything!” Chat Noir replied with a smirk.

“Within reason,” Marigold added. “You never know who could be watching.”

Watching, indeed, Gabriel thought. If there was anything that he could exploit to achieve his objective, then he could well watch this asinine television program.

----

“How about some questions from your fans?” Nadja said, turning to a blank screen behind her. “Hello, caller!”

The screen, turned on, showing–

“Hi, Marigold and Chat Noir! I'm Alya~” their friend said, smiling and waving. “Would you give me an interview for the Ladyblog?”

As they saluted her with different ranges of awkwardness, Scarlet Lady glared at the screen.

“Excuse you, you've forgotten about me,” she said. “You know, the illustrious leader?”

“My followers are interested in the heroes of Paris, not you,” Alya said with a deadpan look.

“WHAT?!” Scarlet Lady yelled.

Nobody cared.

Instead, Alya turned the camera towards her twin sisters, standing next to their beds.

“Marigold! Chat Noir! We have a question!” Etta said.

“Yes?”

“When are you bringing back Koki Marina?” Ella asked.

“She was so cool!”

“I like her hair!”

Marigold smiled.

“Don't worry, girls, Koki Marina is a great hero and we'll definitely be calling on her again,” she replied.

“Yay!” the twins shouted, but then Ella looked at Alya with a curious face.

“Alya, why are you blushing?” she asked, and the camera turned around to show that, indeed, Alya was heavily blushing.

“ANYWAY!” the future journalist said, interrupting the conversation. “Remember to submit your Akuma sightings to the Ladyblog! And tune in for that future interview–”

“NEXT CALL!” Nadja shouted in an attempt to recover control of the situation. The screen stopped showing Alya and turned to show another girl the heroes knew well. “Welcome, caller!”

“Hello~” Lila said, and from a corner of the screen another face showed up.

“Hi mommy!” Manon said, and Nadja smiled.

“Hi sweetie,” she replied, as she silently gave Lila the cue to make her question.

“I'm Lila and I have a question for Marigold and Chat Noir.”

“What, nothing for your ex-best friend, you fraud?” Scarlet Lady said, laughing, while Marigold glared at her.

“Knock it off, Scarlet,” she warned, as Manon reentered the frame with the Marigold doll she had made for the little girl to play with, and Lila readied her question.

“What I wanna know is, how do you put up with Scarlet Lady when she's the worst?”

The heroes froze up at the blunt question, sweating as they tried to come up with something useful, while Scarlet Lady became incensed.

“How der you call in to slander my name and insult me?!” the red-suited girl yelled. “You're just mad I called you out for being the liar you are!”

Lila just stuck her tongue at her as she took a hold of Manon.

“Okay, that's enough!” Chat Noir shouted, sweating as he attempted not to show his true thoughts. “We all work towards the same goal of saving Paris and defeating Hawkmoth.”

“Scarlet Lady has a very important role ensuring we can all continue mostly unbothered by Akumas.

“So you put up with her because you have to, got it,” Lila 'helpfully translated' while Manon waved at the screen.

“Goodbye, caller,” Nadja cut off with a sigh.

“Nadja, get control of your show!” Arlette commanded. “Get to the scoop, now!”

Well, she had hoped to take a while longer to reach that point, but if she didn't act quickly she would lose the chance.

So she turned to Chat Noir and Marigold.

“Numerous fans think that on top of being a couple of superheroes, you're a 'couple', period,” she dropped, leaving them shocked. “Can you confirm it's true?”

“Huh?!” Marigold mumbled.

“What?!” Chat Noir shouted.

“Gross,” Scarlet Lady interrupted. “As if I'd ever be a couple with either of these sidekicks!”

Nadja gave her an awkward smile.

“I'm referring to 'Chatgold',” she said. “No one seems to care about your love life.”

“WHAT?!” Scarlet Lady yelled.

And, yes, nobody cared.

Chat Noir glared ahead at Nadja, while Marigold blushed, looking down.

“We're partners, doing our job,” the Black Cat Hero said. “No feelings involved.”

“That is a very personal, very inappropriate question,” the Bee Heroine added, clearly angry.

“The views are rising, don't let up! Time to give your evidence!” Arlette continued, pushing her to go forward with the plan.

“So then,” Nadja said, as the screen turned to show a still image of Marigold and Chat Noir kissing. “How do you explain these pictures?”

Chat Noir quickly recognized what it was from.

“Oh no.”

Marigold... didn't.

“WHAT?!”

Scarlet Lady...

“Oh, that.”

… didn't particularly care.

Marigold immediately jumped at her partner.

“When did THAT happen?!”

“I was reversing Dark Cupid's spell, I swear!” Chat Noir said, embarrassed. “I was saving you, not kissing you!”

“Then how about these?” Nadja continued, showing more images.

When she scratched him under the chin over his idea to capture Animan.

When she kissed him in the cheek to catch Glaciator unaware.

When he kissed her hand as he gave her the Tiger Miraculous for Juleka.

“Those are out of context!” Chat Noir yelled.

“Excuse me, the kiss?!” Marigold shouted, still stuck there.

“We're partners, friends! Of course we're going to be close, but–” Chat Noir shouted at Nadja, but Marigold...

“THE KISS!”

… had yet to comprehend everything that had gone on back then.

“OH KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY!!! I'm at my FUCKING limit!”

Everyone on the set turned to look at Scarlet Lady in shock.

“I can't believe you'd waste my time to speculate on my sidekicks' love lives, instead of focusing on what's really important – ME!”

True to form, she did the right thing for the wrong reasons.

“Of course we'll cover your exploits, Scarlet Lady,” Nadja said in a conciliatory tone, “as soon as your partners admit the truth–”

“This is the dumbest interview ever!” Scarlet Lady shouted. “We're leaving!”

Nadja just barely avoided dropping her jaw in shock.

“What?! You can't–”

“Sorry, but for once I agree with Scarlet Lady,” Chat Noir said, giving the presenter an ugly look as he helped an almost comatose Marigold leave. “This has been incredibly unpleasant and uncomfortable.”

“Wait! The show isn't over!” Nadja attempted to call out. “The fans will be disappointed if you don't answer–”

“No means NO, lady!” Chat Noir shouted at her, and the door to the set slammed shut.

----

The command to stop the program came a few seconds after the heroes (and Scarlet Lady) left, and Nadja collapsed to her knees, crying; it had been her best chance to make a program to rival everything else in the channel, and it had sunk within a few minutes.

“Welp, wrap it up, people,” a crew member said after no one started to move for a few moments.

“Do you think we'd have a better success rate if every show at our station wasn't live?” a camera man asked.

No one noticed the black butterfly flitting down towards Nadja Chamack.

At least, not until it was too late.

----

The heroes and their not-so-heroic companion had jumped to the roof of the studios, where the latter of the group proceeded to continue making her displeasure of the previous events known.

“The AUDACITY! What a HACK!” Scarlet Lady yelled. Chat Noir ignored her, instead approaching his partner, who was clearly saddened by the reveal of their kiss.

“Marigold! I'm really sorry!” he said, trying to fix his mistake. “You can punch me if you want–”

“It's fine,” she interrupted, but even he could tell it very well was not. “It was just because of the Akuma, right? It didn't mean anything. So let's drop it.”

Chat Noir tried to come up with something to reply, seeing how hurt she was, but –

“AND ANOTHER THING!”

– Scarlet Lady was still in her tirade.

----

At her house, Lila looked at Manon, who had fallen asleep just a moment before everything went to hell, and saw her being completely dead to the world.

“What a dumpster fire,” she muttered, thinking of how badly Manon's mother had handled the show – as well as Scar's reaction.

“Good evening! Welcome to your new show! I'm your hostess, Prime Queen!”

Lila turned to look at the screen... which showed Nadja Chamack, only this Nadja had deep red hair, fluorescent blue skin, and Tron lines over her dark blue clothing.

“... of course,” she grumbled. After everything, it wasn't surprising that she became Akumatized.

----

“Tonight, Marigold and Chat Noir disappointed their fans by refusing to admit they're a couple in love!”

For once, Chat Noir, Marigold, and Scarlet Lady shared the same opinion on what they were just watching.

“You've got to be kidding me,” they said in unison.

----

“We'll see how far they'll go to hide the truth!” Prime Queen continued – and the screen behind her showed...

“Huh?!” Lila said, shocked. The studio screen was somehow showing her, as seen from her TV screen!

Which, of course, was the point when the Akumatized villain pushed her hand through the screen – and, as if it were an American horror film, Prime Queen's hand was suddenly coming out of her TV!

“What the heck, why ME?!” she complained as she tried to dodge the hand of doom.

Unsuccessfully.

----

“Welcome to the Subway of Suspense!” Prime Queen declared, showing a speedometer to the side, while a column to the side was filled to about a fourth of its size. “If it reaches 100 km/h, you can say goodbye to Scarlet Lady's former best friend!”

“Nadja, you idiot, you just kidnapped your babysitter!” Lila, tied up in cables, screamed at the Akumatized reporter – who ignored her.

“Will you dare to go through the screen to save your dear little Lila?”

Scar scoffed.

“As if I'd get my nails dirty for the superliar.”

Chat Noir sighed. Knowing Scar as he did, it didn't surprise him. Nor did her reaction to him pointing out the obvious.

“It's being broadcast live,” he said.

“Out of my way!” Scar shouted, ignoring the dismissive glares from both heroes as they jumped behind her.

----

Landing into the now moving metro car, the tiny screen at one end showed Prime Queen, looking with way too much interest at them.

“You're going to be the stars to the biggest audience record in TV history!” she declared. “Rules are simple! You admit the truth, that you're a couple in love, and I'll stop the subway!”

“A forced confession is as good as a false confession!” Chat Noir angrily shouted back, furious that she was trying to force something that was untrue.

“I want my scoop!” Prime Queen yelled; much like every other Akuma, she was looking for Number One.

“Seriously, why does anyone even care about this?!” Marigold said.

“If it helps, I care more about the 'not crashing' part,” Lila added from the floor.

Marigold sighed, and began to blush as she spoke.

“Fine, Prime Queen. I confess. I am in love with Chat Noir.”

“Oooo! Saving their fan by admitting their true feelings! The news is going crazy~!”

“Good thinking with that lie, Goldie!” Chat Noir whispered as she looked his way... but then she looked away.

“Superheroes don't lie, Chaton,” she whispered back.

And then he began to blush, as he realized what she meant by that.

“What a sweet gesture!” Prime Queen continued, simpering, as the bar to her right filled up to half. “But! The audience isn't breaking records yet! You'll have to do better than that~!”

As the heroes patently held onto their wish to roll their eyes at the goalposts being moved, Prime Queen gave a little clap.

“Oh, I know! To prove your feelings are authentic, you need to take off your masks! To do so, give me your Miraculouses!”

“Gross,” Scarlet Lady interrupted. “I'm not in love with either of these cretins. And I will do no such thing!”

Prime Queen made a grimace.

“Oh, I forgot you were there.”

“YOU–!”

Clearly unwilling to give up, the Akumatized villain jumped through a screen that took her to the Louvre museum, and then reached through another, grabbing someone else and tossing them into a sarcophagus.

“On to the next segment, dear viewers!” Prime Queen declared, showing her newest victim was–

“ALYA!” Marigold said, terrified.

“Marigold! Please, help me!” Alya – tied, trapped, helpless – begged before Prime Queen slammed the sarcophagus shut. “Ow!”

“Oops! Isn't that the girl who runs the Ladyblog?” Prime Queen maliciously said. “Better hand over your Miraculouses before your biggest fan is mummified!”

“Uh, why should I save her after she snubbed me–” Scarlet Lady muttered.

“Hurry up so I can go back to my room!” Lila interrupted her, shoving her through the screen.

“AH–!”

Marigold and Chat Noir jumped through as well...

“This isn't the Louvre!” the Bee Heroine exclaimed; instead of the museum, they had landed into a freezer room.

“She trapped us in!” Chat Noir added as the screen behind them changed to show Prime Queen's face.

“You got that right!” the villain replied. “Last chance, heroes! Take off your Miraculouses or your biggest fan will take a dip in the Seine!”

“NO! ALYA!” Marigold shouted again, trying to look for something that would help stop the Akumatized villain.

“Don't keep the public waiting~!”

“So what.”

Chat Noir and Marigold turned to look at Scarlet Lady, shocked.

“SCAR!” Chat Noir yelled.

“What? I'll bring her back when we win, so what's the big deal!”

----

“The 'big deal' is that that's seriously messed up, Scarlet!” Marigold shouted.

The other big deal was... well, it was being broadcasted live.

And hundreds of thousands of Parisians were watching.

And they just had seen and heard the so-called 'heroine of Paris' demonstrate a complete lack of regard for a potential victim's death.

And through many minds went one thought.

Is she what we thought she was?

----

Besieged by glares from the other two, Scarlet looked away.

“Oh fine, you big babies: Lucky Charm.”

As she saw the object Scarlet had summoned – a roll of tape – Marigold quickly came up with an idea.

“This'll work,” she declared, picking an empty pizza box – from the same pizza shop where Luka worked, even – and pulled it apart.

And put it on top of the screen, while Chat Noir (who had quickly seen the plan) grabbed the tape and fixed the spread box to the screen.

“Wuh–What's going on?! Why can't I see?!” the villain shouted.

“Too bad, Prime Queen,” Chat Noir said, grinning, as he stood to one side of the screen. “We think we will take off our Miraculouses.”

“And we will reveal our identities!” Marigold taunted.

“You just won't get to see it~!” both of them finished in unison.

“They'll probably make out too,” Scarlet added.

“No, Scar,” Chat Noir added, ready to move as soon as the villain fell for the trick.

“You better not be lying,” Prime Queen said, confirming she had swallowed the bait, and she punched through the screen and pizza box.

Which a prepared Marigold was all too happy to take advantage of.

“Venom~”

“Cataclysm! Free with one freezer exit,” Chat Noir said as he destroyed the freezer's door.

“The fact that that worked was embarrassing,” Scarlet Lady said as Marigold pulled the paralyzed Prime Queen into the freezer.

“Who's the idiot here, her or Hawkmoth?” Marigold rhetorically asked.

----

Once more, everything was fixed through the use of the Miraculous Cure, save for Scarlet Lady's entitlement and reputation, and... the situation between Paris' heroes.

“Marigold, I–”

“Chat Noir, I know we're just good friends and partners, you don't have to–”

“NO!” Chat Noir interrupted. “Goldie, you're AMAZING! And kind and wonderful and the best partner ever!”

“Chat, please, just don't–” Marigold begged, struggling not to tear up in front of her friend.

“I mean it! It'd be easy to fall for you, but --” and here Chat Noir began to blush, “but I'm already in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng!”

Marigold completely blanked out at hearing those three words, and slowly turned to look at her partner.

She must have misheard something.

Or she had just gone temporarily crazy.

Because there was no way the boy she loved just said he was in love with her civilian self.

“Wuh... buh...” she babbled as she tried to make sense of it.

“You might not know her since I had her swear to stay out of fights around the time you joined the team,” he continued, completely unaware of the storm he was causing in her mind, “but she completely captured my heart! But since I see her everyday as 'myself', I can't just forget her! If you met her you'd get it!”

Marigold's eyes widened, and her blush intensified. What Chat Noir had just said... it really sounded like...

“The two of you are so alike, it's almost as if–”

Whoa, time to cut it off.

“AHAHAHA! You know what?!” Marigold interrupted, smiling. “She sounds awesome and you should totally go for it. Anyway, gotta go!”

“HUH?!”

And, as Marigold left, Chat Noir was left looking at her, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

----

Finally back at home, she watched at the now snoring little girl on her bed, making her pout.

“Wow. Amazing what people sleep through,” she muttered, before putting the covers over her again and moving to another room so she could check her computer without disturbing Manon.

Just in time to receive a call request.

Opening the screen, she quickly accepted.

“Yo!” Alya said, smiling and waving. “Glad you're safe!”

“You too,” she replied, returning the smile. “I guess the Cure has more heart than Scarlet Lady.”

Alya's face turned thunderous.

“She was gonna let me drown! She's dead to me!” she yelled, before shaking her head and breathing deeply. “Prime Queen sorta had a point with these views. Too bad for her they're all on my blog.”

“Seriously? That many people care about the imaginary romance between coworkers?” Lila asked, opening the Ladyblog and seeing the comments.

“Mostly people are split between ship wars, and freaking over Scarlet Lady,” Alya replied, and Lila could tell it was quite the understatement.

DING!

“Huh? An email?” Alya said, opening it – and she squinted at the contents. “You've got to be kidding me.”

“What is it?”

“Nadja Chamack just invited me to be a guest on her new show, 'Side by Side'.”

Her jaw dropped.

“All that melodrama over her dumb show being cancelled and they just handed her a new one?!”

----

“What a looong day, come to me my love~” Plagg sang, hugging a piece of Camembert cheese, but Adrien paid little mind to him, instead going over of what just happened. Which the Kwami noticed. “Uhh, what's got you thinking so hard?”

“Marigold... her reaction was strange.” He turned to him. “Her mood completely changed when I mentioned Marinette. And not in the way you'd expect if she was jealous... is it possible... that Marigold could be...”

Plagg began to sweat.

“Oh, no,” he whispered.

He really didn't want to face Tikki if his boy realized the truth.

----

“WOOHOO~!” Marigold said, landing on her terrace as she changed back to her normal self, letting Pollen come out.

“What a wonderful revelation!” the Kwami said, clapping with her little arms. “Chat Noir is in love with 'you', my Queen! Aren't you happy?”

“Sure, but, uh...” she replied, shrugging, confused. “What did he mean he 'sees me everyday as himself'?”

----

Zombizou

@zoe-oneesama Finally reached the end of Season 4! Let's see how much I manage to do before you end the story...

Also, we're at 498 pages, 199,063 words, 1,073,925 characters!

#scarlet lady the novel #fanfiction #milarqui #long post #adrien agreste #chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #marigold #nadja chamack #prime queen #scarlet lady is better than canon

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady: Robostus

Directory | Crocoduel

As Marinette left the locker room, she looked down and realized there was something that should have been there, but wasn't.

She groaned.

“Aw, shoot! I forgot my backpack in the locker room,” she complained. “Again.”

Nino laughed.

“Don't take too long,” he warned her. “You know how Mendeleiev gets.”

Marinette nodded and turned around to cross the courtyard...

… only to trip on a loose slab.

“AH!” she shouted, waving her arms as she tried to recover her balance, but since she was unable, her heroic instincts flared up – and she did a flip in the air without touching the ground. “Whew. I'm okay!”

Just a few meters away, Rose, Alya, and Chloé had been witnesses to Marinette's spectacular feat.

“Wow!” Rose exclaimed, clapping.

“Ooo!” Alya cheered, somehow managing to film the entire thing with her phone.

“Showoff.” No need to say who was being hypocritical this time.

----

Entering the locker room, she quickly located her own and grabbed her backpack, decided to return to class before the bell rang.

“Of course you're my best friend! That's 100% fact!”

Marinette stopped, feeling confused: that was clearly Max, but she was certain that there was no one else. And, as she looked, it appeared as if he was talking to his bag.

“But I'm 98.2% adamant that the teachers aren't ready for such an evolution.”

“His best friend lives in a bag?” Pollen asked, surprised.

“So weird,” Marinette agreed. “That doesn't even make sense.”

She turned to her little kwami friend that lived in her bag.

“By the way! Do you have enough spicy chips, Pollen?” she asked, ignoring the hypocrisy in her question.

“Mhm!” Pollen replied, equally ignorant.

----

As they finally arrived to Mme. Mendeleiev's classroom, it was to see her and the principal behind the desk, with the former trying to do something in the computer.

“See, M. Damocles, nothing happens!” the teacher stated, the electronic blackboard behind her showing little more than showing little more than scribbles.

“You're in luck, Mme. Mendeleiev! I know a bit about computers!” M. Damocles replied, approaching the computer and starting to work on it. “Let me just–”

The blackboard changed – but it was clearly not what should have been.

“Wuh – that's not my lesson!” Mme. Mendeleiev announced, stunned.

“What is that?!” M. Damocles asked aloud: clearly, his vaunted computer skills were not enough to deal with what was happening to the teacher's computer.

“A computer virus, the Dino-33.”

Everyone's eyes turned to Max, who was making his way towards the teacher's desk, and put his schoolbag on it before turning the laptop around.

“I can–”

Whatever he could do, it was interrupted by Mme. Mendeleiev, who pulled the laptop away from Max's hands and pointed towards the other desks.

“Go back to your seat, and let the adults handle this,” she commanded, much to Max's shock.

“But–!” he attempted to intervene.

“Did she just forget Max is a computer genius?” Marinette asked Alya, who shrugged: sometimes, the goings on of the teachers were a mystery, never mind the adults in general.

“Tell them if they don't act in the next 75 seconds, there's a 99% chance the disk will be irreversibly damaged.”

Everyone looked in surprise towards Max's bag, from which a robotic voice had somehow spoken. Max winced as he smacked the bag.

“Shh! Quiet!” Max shushed, as M. Damocles shrugged.

“Ah! Oh, let the boy help!” the principal said, and Max gingerly walked to the other side of the table.

“You will need this, Max!”

The same voice had spoken again, and from the now open bag sprouted a metallic pincer holding a pendrive.

The shock amongst the teenagers witnessing this was immediate.

“Huuh?” Nino mumbled, unable to comprehend what was going on.

“WOOOAH!” Mylène exclaimed, while Max winced again.

“Um!” he started, unable to decide what to say, before picking the pendrive. “Uh, this is an anti-virus flash drive I came up with, with my... my best friend.”

M. Damocles and Mme. Mendeleiev looked like their eyes were about to pop out when a small red, silver, and green robot flew out of the bag, its face somehow smiling even though he didn't have a mouth to speak of.

“Hello! I am Markov!”

“Whoa!” the class exploded.

“Max, you made a robot?” Ivan asked, surprised.

“What, like it's hard?” Max replied as he inserted the pendrive and worked to eliminate the computer virus.

Everyone approached the teacher's desk to admire the small flying robot from a close distance.

“Rad,” Juleka said with a smile.

“So cute!” Mylène said, already taken in by Markov.

“Wow, Max!” Alix complimented.

“You gave him an arm since last time!” Kim noted: unlike the others, he had been witness to Max's work... even if he didn't understand what he was doing.

“Markov did it on his own!” Max corrected his friend. “He's at the cutting edge of robotic evolution!”

“Oh, please!” Chloé exclaimed, her usual spoilsport face in place. “It's nothing more than a talking calculator! My hair dryer is more advanced than it.”

“The only one less advanced than a hair dryer is Chloé,” Marinette snarked, and Alya cracked up laughing while the blonde glared at her rival.

“HEY!”

Mendeleiev leaned ahead, her face as stern and humorless as ever, as she looked down at Max.

“Alright, Max, your toy is impressive, but it's time for class. Put it away.”

“With all due respect, I am not a toy. I am Markov, Max's best friend!”

Max blushed as he looked at the robot.

“Yes, he's my friend! As smart and sensitive as any human!”

Markov's 'eyes' turned into hearts as he looked back at Max.

“Yes! For example, I love Max!”

“That's impossible. Robots don't have emotions, Max,” Mme. Mendeleiev stated, causing Markov to glare up at her.

“I believe you are just jealous that Max could create a robot with feelings!”

The teacher's face quickly turned... thunderous.

“Okay, Max, you can come get your robot after school,” M. Damocles quickly said, grabbing Markov and starting to leave.

“But, M. Damocles–!” Max tried to say, but the principal shook his head.

“Shh, don't look her in the eyes!” he whispered at the young man, leaving the classroom.

----

“I would like to stay with Max, sir...”

Markov was begging, feeling distressed at his separation from Max. M. Damocles shook his head in disappointment.

“You're too much of a distraction,” he replied as he opened his office door.

“I won't be a distraction! Where are we going, sir?”

M. Damocles didn't answer this time: instead, he opened the drawer where he put the objects that were confiscated from students.

“No! Do not put me in there–!”

M. Damocles thought that young Max had good skills to create a robot that could replicate such a feeling. However, this was not the time to consider such things, and carefully put the robot into the drawer.

“Maaaax~!”

… was that like tear tracks in the robot's face?

“That's some codependency,” M. Damocles muttered as he closed the drawer.

----

As Mme. Mendeleiev started to prepare her lesson of the day, Marinette turned to look to Max, who was looking despondent.

“Markov's never been apart from me before,” the smartest student in the class said, fretting. “I'm not sure how he'll handle it.”

Marinette smiled at him with assurance.

“Leave it to me, Max!” she said, and raised her hand. “Mme. Mendeleiev! May I go to the principal's office and get Markov? If you explain that it's class time, I'm sure he'd keep quiet!”

“No!” the stern teacher shouted. “And I'm done with this topic!”

“Could it be Markov was right and you're jealous of a robot?”

Everyone looked at Marinette in shock; not only was Marinette pushing a teacher's buttons, she was doing it to Mme. Mendeleiev of all people!

“Enough! Principal's office! NOW!”

Someone certainly got her berserk button pushed. Not that Marinette cared, waving goodbye as she smiled.

“Thank you!” she cheered, opening the door, and Mme. Mendeleiev got stuck, thinking about what had just happened.

“... wait.”

Too late, however, as Marinette had already left the classroom.

----

This was a first. An artificial intelligence that could actually feel emotions? Well, he wasn't going to complain. Perhaps this one could do the job.

“Robostus, I am Hawkmoth,” he declaimed. “I'm giving you the power to give life to all machines. In return, you'll bring me the heroes' Miraculouses.”

“Can you define the word 'Miraculouses'?”

“Magical jewels. Once united, they allow you to make a wish.”

“Any wish?”

“... yes?” he added, feeling a chill going down his back. “Why do I feel uneasy about this?”

----

Walking up the stairs, Marinette saw the principal walking out of his office, and decided to get her mission out of the way as fast as possible.

“M. Damocles–” she called out, but then Markov – with some marked color changes, including a deep green that resembled Chat Noir's eyes – appeared, glaring at the principal.

“You made a grave error of judgement, M. Principal!”

Markov started to fly around the principal, making him trip.

“I will show you what I'm capable of!”

Marinette promptly turned around. It looked like it was too late.

----

Collége Françoise Dupont was no stranger to weird events. Why, in the past year, a good number of its students had been the victims of a magical terrorist that had forcibly transformed them into monsters or villains with the aim of stealing two magical jewels from the heroes that had assembled to stop him. Some of them even within the premises!

But few people could have expected a large robot made of vehicles, construction gear, and other assorted machines to assemble in the school's courtyard.

“I am not a toy!”

Covered in green lightning, the large robot made a sign, and suddenly all over the school all electronic devices were covered in a sickly green glow.

Before students could react, said electronic devices started to fly around, hitting those who weren't quick enough on their feet and harassing those who were.

“AHH! OW!”

“STOP! OW!”

It was pure pandemonium.

In one closet, a panting Adrien looked at his kwami companion with a sarcastic smile.

“I guess that's the end of the 'do robots have feelings' debate,” he said, while Plagg rolled his eyes.

Elsewhere, Chloé looked around with a glare and clenched a fist.

“I'll show Dupain-Cheng who's more advanced than a hair dryer!” she declared.

For one of their number, though, the situation was different: Max Kanté found himself in an excavator bucket, being brought towards the car at the top of the robot.

“Max! My friend! Now we'll be together 100% of the time!”

“STOP!”

Marigold had arrived into the scene, and was looking up at the robot, who had pushed Max into the copilot's seat.

“If you really love your friend, you should listen to him!” the heroine said. She had yet to find an Akuma that was willing to stop just by words, but given his ties to Max, perhaps...

“You need to stop, Markov!” Max begged, feeling the helmet that a mechanical arm was putting on his head. However, Markov had been truly taken over by the Akuma, and denied his request.

“I am Robostus! I'm doing this for us, Max!”

“Forget him, you should listen to me,” Scarlet Lady said, receiving a look from Chat Noir and Marigold

“No one listens to you,” Chat Noir deadpanned, and the Ladybug 'heroine' turned to glare at the Cat hero.

“Well, you should listen to me, I'm brilliant!” Scarlet Lady yelled.

“Brilliantly annoying,” Chat Noir fire back, as Marigold tried to refocus them into important matters.

“GUYS!” she shouted, unaware of the threat coming from up above.

The bucket that suddenly grabbed the three of them, trapping them without the ability to escape.

“AH!”

“HEY!”

“LET GO!”

“Now you are at my mercy! I will take your Miraculouses and I will make my wish to become human!”

“What?” Marigold asked, shocked.

----

“What.”

Hawkmoth was left stunned.

He had had to deal with stubborn minions, strange minions, and even some who were just plain creepy.

But this was the first time one minion was truly... rebellious.

“May I remind you the Miraculouses are mine, Robostus!” he angrily told the robot through their connection.

“And how will you prevent me from using them?”

“I will simply take away your power!” he pointed out. Perhaps this would put –

“And you really think you can control me?”

Before he could reply, every alert in his lair was activated.

“INTRUSION! INTRUSION! INTRUSION!” one of the speakers screamed.

“ELIMINATION MODE, ENGAGED!”

“WHAT IS HAPPENING?” Hawkmoth shouted as he suddenly found himself in a fight for his own survival that he hadn't expected.

----

Back at Collége Françoise Dupont, Max realized that Robostus was distracted, and carefully opened the door next to him.

Meanwhile, Marigold was still struggling to get loose, because she had seen the small helicopter flying towards her, with a pincer ready to grab her Haircomb. But, no matter how much she tried, she just couldn't free herself.

“I'm sorry everyone,” she mumbled, clenching her eyes shut as the pincer got closer.

SMACK!

“WAH!” Scarlet Lady screamed.

Marigold opened her eyes, and saw the helicopter starting to fall, after being hit by a bag.

“What, what's happening?” Chat Noir asked, still stuck upside down.

“That bag–!”

“I don't need you to be human!” Max declared, looking at his Akumatized friend. “I need you to be my best friend, my Markov! And you're not Markov, so I have to stop you!”

And he pulled a lever, forcing the bucket open and freeing the three heroes. Robostus glared at Max, showing tear tracks in his face.

“Top 10 human betrayals. No. 5 will surprise you.”

Freed of his restraints, Chat Noir quickly jumped up to the car serving as Robostus' command post, and activated his power.

“CATACLYSM!”

The giant robot quickly crumbled into parts, and Chat Noir caught Max mid-air to keep him from hitting the ground.

“You betrayed me, Max! I don't want to be human and heartless like you! Instead, I'll enslave them all! Starting with you!”

And he flew away, while the heroes took Max to the roof of the school.

“You were amazing, Max!” Marigold cheered, as Max took off the helmet he was wearing.

“Then why do I feel like I might throw up?”

----

The heroes (mostly Chat Noir and Marigold) tried to plan how to stop this latest Akumatized villain, when Chat Noir's baton beeped with an alert. Opening it in screen form, he grimaced as he turned it towards his partner.

“Look at this, honeybee,” he said as the screen showed the news.

“Live with Nadja Chamack. Animated objects are attacking Paris! The new mayor is making a declaration from City Hall!” the famous reporter said, as the screen showed... a lamp. With the Mayor's sash around it. While Mayor Bourgeois was (quite literally) tied up in the background.

“. .”

The sound of the transmission was unmistakeable to anyone minimally versed in the matter.

“Is that Morse code?” Marigold asked, surprised.

“Want a translation?” Chat Noir said, listening to the transmission.

“.... ..- -- .- -. ...”

“Humans...”

“.-- .. .-.. .-.. / -... . / ... --- --- -.”

“... will be soon...”

“- .-. . .- - . -.. / .-.. .. -.- . / --- -... .--- . -.-. - ... .-.-.-”

“... treated like objects?”

“-... .-. .. -. --.”

“Bring...”

“..- ...”

“... us...”

“- .... . / -... --- -.-- .-.-.-”

“... the boy. Uhoh, Max.”

“Oh, please, like you know Morse Code,” Scarlet Lady said, dismissively.

“He's right, though,” Max interrupted, causing the Ladybug Miraculous bearer to turn to him, shocked.

“WHAT?!”

“Oh, sure, you believe him,” Chat Noir grumbled. “I'm gonna go... recharge.”

----

“Now, Adrien, I must stress that this is a very useful and important Miraculous and it needs to be treated with the utmost care,” Master Fu told Adrien, who looked down at the small box he had just been given with apprehension.

“Uh, of course, Master Fu, but why is this one so special?” he asked.

“Because without it I can't get my hometown speciality tea any time I want.”

Adrien gave him a deadpan look and decided he didn't want to ask.

----

By the time Chat Noir returned, Scarlet Lady was nowhere to be seen, and Marigold was on her top-phone.

“The angry Tamagotchi made a new suit, I guess,” he heard her speak. “His big, fat foot prints go to the stadium. So hurry up already!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Marigold replied with a tired voice.

“Aaaand I'm back. With help,” Chat Noir announced. Max looked at him in confusion.

“'Help'?” he asked, and Chat Noir offered him the box in his hand.

“Max Kanté, this is the Horse Miraculous, which grants the power of Teleportation. Will you help us save your friend?”

Max was shocked that the heroes actually needed his help. However, one thing was certain: he wasn't going to step back!

“Y-Yes!” he stuttered as Chat Noir gave him the box.

“What's going on?! I can't hear–”

Marigold promptly cut off the connection, looking entirely done with Scarlet Lady.

“That's enough of that,” she said, rolling the rope around her top. “Way to kill the moment.”

Max looked awkwardly at the display before he opened the box, which came with a small flash of light as a horse-like creature appeared floating in front of him.

“Oh!” the creature said, surprised, as it looked up at him. “To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?”

“Hello! My name is Max!” he replied, eager to understand who this was.

“I am Kaalki,” the creature said. “Are you glorious and famous?”

Max wasn't sure what that had to do with having powers, but he figured it was probably an idiosyncracy of Kaalki.

“Uh, I mean, I created evolving artificial intelligence?” he suggested.

“Hm. I don't fully understand, but I surmise that must be impressive,” Kaalki replied, nodding. “Very well! You have my permission to say, 'Kaalki'–”

----

“FULL GALLOP!”

----

As his transformation finished, Max was suddenly aware of information he was certain he hadn't learned on his own.

Then, he noticed something else.

“Whoa, where'd my glasses go?” he asked, as Marigold smiled at him.

“That's just how magic works~” she teased, showing the anti virus flash drive he had used earlier. “This, however, you'll want to hold onto.”

---

The three heroes arrived to the Stade de France (because apparently Akumatized villains loved to use either that or the Eiffel Tower to do their deeds) and landed next to Scarlet Lady, who, as per usual, had done nothing.

“Yo,” Chat Noir greeted her.

“Another newbie?” Scarlet Lady asked in a tone of complaint.

“The name's Pegasus,” the Horse hero said, to which Scarlet Lady scoffed.

“More like Poindexter,” she replied, reaching out to his pince-nez sunglasses. “Look, he even has dorky–”

Pegasus promptly slapped away her hand. And when Scarlet Lady tried again, he slapped the hand away again.

And Scarlet kept trying, and trying, and trying, and Pegasus kept slapping her hand away.

“KNOCK IT OFF!” an irritated Chat Noir yelled.

They did indeed knock it off – but it was because of the electronic laughter coming from above them, and the three helicopters that were now flying around them

“Hahaha! I calculated you'd fall for my trap! I will always be one step ahead of you! Because I'm superior!”

“That's it! LUCKY CHARM!” Scarlet Lady yelled.

And then jumped back as a large harp crashed into the ground just where she had been a moment before.

“WAH!” she yelled in fright.

“Nice,” Chat Noir deadpanned.

“This is annoyiiiing. Can't we leave?” Scarlet Lady complained.

“Sure, if you want to faceplant into a helicopter.”

Chat Noir didn't care.

Marigold, meanwhile, had grabbed the now broken harp and turned to her new temporary partner.

“You're on, Pegasus!”

“Voyage!” the Horse hero said, a cyan ring forming around his wrist.

“You're only making this hard for yourselves–”

Robostus was certain of his victory, but he would have been less certain if he had been aware of the portal opening right behind him.

Or of Pegasus being at the other side of said portal, holding the broken Lucky Charm.

He became more aware of it as Pegasus threw the Lucky Charm at him, causing it to entangle in its small rotor and preventing him from hovering in place.

Quickly, the little robot began to fall.

“WAAH! AHHHH–”

And then he was further entangled, as Marigold's top grabbed him mid-air.

“What is this?!”

The Akumatized robot was completely confused, unable to comprehend how quickly the tables had turned against him, and Marigold grabbed him.

“Wit, luck, and a stable hand,” she fired, causing Chat Noir to chuckle.

“Ha! I get it!” the hero said, as Robostus glared at Marigold.

“This isn't over! The game is still on–MMP!”

“That's enough of that,” Pegasus declared as he plugged the anti virus flash drive into Robostus' USB port.

----

Hawkmoth panted in the depths of his lair. He had never been so close to death as he had in the past fifteen minutes, and he was certain that, if the heroes had an inkling of where he was, they would easily put him down without an effort.

----

One Miraculous Cure later, Markov was back to normal, all the things the Akumatized robot had controlled were back in place, and Pegasus had transformed back into Max, holding his friend in his hands.

"Max! My friend!"

“So, this is your creation?” Kaalki asked, interested.

“Mhm! Welcome back, Markov!” Max greeted the small robot.

“Where are we? What's going on?”

“Remarkable,” Kaalki commented. “You were Akumatized, my dear.”

“'Akumatized'? Who is speaking?”

Markov was clearly unfamiliar with the term, and the fact that the voice that spoke it didn't seem to have a souce added to the confusion.

“What?!” Max asked, shocked.

“Kaalki, Kwamis don't show on camera,” Marigold pointed out. “Which is what Markov's eyes are.”

The Horse Kwami shook her head.

“What a pity. To never be able to gaze upon my visage.”

“Just you wait!” Max said, his previous shock now replace with the eagerness of doing something new. “I'll make a camera so powerful it can see magical creatures!”

“My! I'm looking forward to it,” Kaalki sincerely replied... while poor Markov wondered who was speaking.

----

At the Agreste mansion, with the crisis now averted (ironically, something he had to thank the heroes for, even if he would never actually do so), Gabriel Agreste undid his transformation and gently held the utterly exhausted Nooroo in his hands, even when he was about to collapse himself.

“N-Nathalie, order more missiles for the lair,” he said, puffing air like a geriatric locomotive.

“Yes, sir, and some tablet protectors,” Nathalie replied, rendering Gabriel even more utterly confused than he had been, but he attributed it to mishearing.

“Sure. I'm going to... lie down,” he mumbled, stumbling his way towards his private rooms and closing the door behind him before collapsing on the mattress and closing his eyes.

As soon as she heard the door closing, Nathalie cuddled her tablet.

“You know I love you most, right?” she said, caressing the device with the care normally shown towards a baby or a loved one.

----

The students returned to their classroom, and as soon as Max arrived, he was beset on by their Sciences teacher.

“Max!” she exclaimed.

“Mme. Mendeleiev!” he returned, somewhat scared of what she might say.

“Thank goodness you're okay!” Mme. Mendeleiev said, before turning bashful. “Look... I was wrong.”

Max became shocked. It wasn't common to hear a teacher admit to making a mistake... but it looked like she was mature enough to do so.

“It would seem that robots can experience true emotions. The fact that it– uh, he was Akumatized makes that irrefutable.”

“Thank you, Mme. Mendeleiev!” Max and Markov said in unison.

Uncharacteristically for her, she blushed – the teen and robot duo were too cute to react otherwise – and she coughed to hide that.

“But I expect Markov to behave in class as any other student.”

“Yes, ma'am!”

----

That night was patrol night, and the heroes met at their usual spot. This time, though, they had agreed to do something else.

“Shall we compare notes, Your Highness?” Chat Noir teasingly asked, to which Marigold gave him a small smirk.

“I'm sure Master Fu told us the same thing,” she replied. “The Earrings and Ring combined make a Wish. A Wish that can alter reality.”

“But the Universe demands balance and in order to gain something, something of equal value must be lost,” Chat Noir continued, and both heroes looked grimly into the horizon. “In other words...”

“Hawkmoth can never win,” both finished in unison.

----

Prime Queen

@zoe-oneesama: Maan, I lost a lot of lead.

Sorry for the wait, guys, you know how these things work - real life sometimes sucks, and it sucks your will to write stuff.

Also, I didn't fulfill my hope to finish Season 4 before the end of year. Apologies.

With Robostus, we reach 488 pages, 194791 words, 1050552 characters. Let's keep going!

P.S: Also, stupid Tumblr won't let me give a different font to parts of a paragraph.

#scarlet lady the novel #fanfiction #milarqui #adrien agreste #chat noir #marinette dupain cheng #marigold #max kanté #pegasus

[milarqui]

hiiii sorry if I’m bothering you but you haven’t updated your sl writing sense December and I remember you said you wanted to finish them so I was wondering if something’s going on? Also happy Valentine’s Day

Same issue as the previous time. My apologies. But I am working on Robostus, I promise.

[milarqui]

Fu made a wise choice before Marinette had to throw hands.

Episode 51 Part 18 First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47, Ep 48, Intermission, Ep 49, Ep 50

Ko-fi | Patreon

#taking a third option #wholesome #cute #pollen is so cute #she was ready to go back into the box #but then marinette just said “screw that she stays with me”

[milarqui]

Unless you have an unaccounted for brain injury, there is NO reason to be forgetting your own kids names. You even made them rhyme!

Episode 51 Part 17 First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47, Ep 48, Intermission, Ep 49, Ep 50

Bonus:

Ko-fi | Patreon

#audrey got told off #like seriously told off #audrey bourgeois better learn the lesson

[milarqui]

When Jaune begs his Goddess for help, she provides - and when the time to pay comes, Pyrrha, Goddess of War and Love, decides she wants a night with her favorite cleric and teach him all he needs to know to please a woman. What happens to him... it may not be as surprising as one thought.

Warning: Explicit Arkos sex.

#arkos #pyrrha nikos #jaune arc #goddess pyrrha #cleric jaune #fanfiction #d&d-like world

[milarqui]

Please enjoy a meme I made for you, I had a vision

Behold It's Brilliance

[milarqui]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/52325539

A one-shot I wrote because I like Arkos and got inspired. Note: if you're not 18+, stay away. It gets really steamy.

#arkos

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady: Crocoduel

Directory | Ikari Gozen

“Because you dye! My! Heart! A rainbow of coloooooors!”

“WHOO!” Everyone cheered as Kitty Section's song ended. Everyone had gathered at the Liberty to listen to their friends' band group, and it had been quite amazing, as they played some of the songs they would release soon, but this one was very much unexpected.

“Wow, Rose,” Luka said as he turned off his electric guitar, “you wrote that for Juleka?”

“Heehee! Happy birthday!” Rose said to a smiling, blushing Juleka, then turned to him. “I'll sing you yours before we head out on Saturday, Luka!”

“Lookin' forward to it!” he replied as he began to take off his costume.

“Everyone still down with watching 'Rock and Monster Party Parade'?” Nino asked.

“YEAH!”

Lila split off from the group to approach Luka.

“And how old are you turning, Luka?” she asked, smiling.

Luka smirked down at her.

“One year older than the last year~” he sing-sang, causing Lila to pout.

“Smartass.”

----

As everyone began to split along the Liberty to do their thing, Marinette found Juleka and Rose on their own.

“It'll work out, Ju!” Rose exclaimed in an encouraging tone.

However, Juleka didn't seem to be convinced that it would.

“I don't know...”

“Hm? Is something wrong?” Marinette asked, worried.

“It's just...” Juleka said, sighing. “This is the first time my Dad is in Paris for our birthday and I really want to celebrate with him. But he and Maman don't know me and Luka know who he is.”

Marinette grimaced.

“Wow, I've... never heard you talk about your dad.”

“Well, he and my Mom don't get along, so...”

“... is he a cop?” Marinette asked, remembering Anarka's rather acrimonious relationship with law enforcement.

All while Rose just gave a nervous smile.

“Every year we 'mysteriously' get gifts centered around our interests,” Juleka said, remembering how she got a makeup kit when she started to be interested in the goth subculture, or the violin Luka was given when he started learning how to play one. “So I think he'd be up for meeting us if not for Maman.”

She sighed.

“I just want to thank him in person.”

“Why woun't your mom let you meet?” Marinette asked, curious.

“Let's put it this way. Between the two of them... my mom's the responsible parent.”

Marinette felt her eyes going wide.

“Oh.” What kind of person is he that Anarka is the more responsible? “Oh, I see.”

“Yeah, I'd like Dad to come too,” Luka added, “but he'll cause a scene if he just shows up at the cinema.”

“'Cause a scene'?” Marinette asked. This only added to the enigma of who their father was.

“How about a party here?” Adrien suggested. “It's private property, so people won't stop him, but not so private he can't coincidentally stop by! Only hiccup is letting your dad in on the plan.”

“Oh, that's easy,” Luka said, pulling out his phone. “I have his manager's number.”

“Oh, perfect!” Adrien exclaimed, ignorant of the mental collapse Marinette was suffering.

Who is this man?! His manager?!

----

“Ha! Your birthday's on the same day so you have to be twins!” Lila shouted, but Luka's smirk stopped her cold.

“Or we were born on the same day years apart.”

“ARGHHH!”

Juleka rolled her eyes at her brother's teasing.

Luka's having too much fun with this, she thought.

----

The next day, preparations for the birthday party were quickly underway, and everyone was helping wherever they could.

“Thanks for bringing the cake, Marinette!” Juleka said, preparing to hang the flags next to a window, as her friend placed the box with the cake on the table.

“No problem!” Marinette replied, just as someone knocked on a window. Luka opened to see who was calling –

“Jagged?” Marinette asked, surprised.

“Hey, birthday sibs! Bon Anniv'!” the rocker said, grinning at Luka, who helped him through the window. “I'm not late, am I?”

“Early, actually,” Luka corrected, while Marinette's surprised turned into confusion.

“What is Jagged Stone doing here...”

Wait.

She slowly turned to look at Juleka, who was looking away and trying (and failing) to look innocent by whistling.

Marinette felt her jaw drop at the shock.

“I was so pumped to get an official invite! From, uh, 'Anarka's' kids,” Jagged Stone said, unaware of the shock he had just induced in Marinette. “I had to get the perfect gifts!”

From a bag he had brought with him, he pulled a bass guitar, which he offered to Juleka.

“Juleka's Kitty Section's bass guitarist, right? I thought it'd be cool if I gave her my very first bass guitar!”

Juleka carefully picked up the present, tested it, and smiled at Jagged – at her father.

“Thank you.”

Jagged acted as if he had been struck straight in the heart by Juleka's cuteness.

But he quickly recovered from it, and pulled a vinyl from the same bag.

“And for Luka, this original edition LP from Crocoduo, the group I had with your mom–“

“JAGGED STONE, YOU SCALLYWAG!”

Everyone jumped in the air as Anarka Couffaine screamed, her eyes glaring at the rocker.

“A-Anarka!”

“No stow aways on my ship! Disembark right now!” the twins' mother shouted as she walked up to the group.

“H–How'd you know I was here?! I was so sneaky!” Jagged declared, shocked.

“Your tour bus is parked on the dock, you one-hit wonder!”

----

On the dock, the class approached Jagged Stone's tour bus, stunned – mostly because all of them could easily recognize it.

“Whoa...” they all said, as Penny Rolling greeted everyone.

“Hey.”

----

Inside the Liberty, things were a lot more tense.

“You have some nerve gifting the album that split us up!” Anarka shouted, marching up to Jagged Stone.

“'Split us up?!' You mean the album that gave me my life back after you left me!” Jagged replied, brandishing the vinyl disc as if it were a weapon, only for Anarka to grab the other side and pull.

“You're the one who left me!” she said.

“No, you!” he replied.

None of them aware of the black butterfly flitting its way down until it touched the disc – which turned black.

“A-AKUMA! AH, SHIT!” Marinette shouted as the disc cracked and both Anarka and Jagged showed the signs of Akumatization.

Juleka and Luka sighed.

“Happy birthday to us.”

----

Hawkmoth was stunned.

It was the first time he had a two-for-one deal.

And both of them were people he had Akumatized in the past.

There was only one thing he could say.

“What? You two again?”

----

Captain Hardrock and Guitar Villain quickly took to the skies, facing each other.

“Ye selfish sea dog, ye sailed off on yer own cruise leaving two matey's behind!” the pirate-themed Akuma shouted.

“You're the one who destroyed our duet and played on without me!” the dragon-riding Akuma shouted back.

“Aw, man, you can get Akumatized again?!” Alix complained.

“Even after Scarlet Lady purifies the butterfly?” Ivan asked, remembering how he got Akumatized twice from the same butterfly.

“Well, that one florist gets Akumatized a lot–” Rose reminded her friend.

“BOOOOO!” Nino yelled, ignoring how his best friend was slowly sneaking away.

Elsewhere in the dock, Marinette was doing the same, while Juleka and Luka watched their parents duking it out in the skies of Paris.

“So much for keeping things a secret,” Luka lamented.

----

“GET BACK HERE, YOU BILGE RAT!”

“TRY AND CATCH ME!”

“Chloé! Akuma!” Tikki exclaimed, but when she turned, she saw Chloé was deliberately looking away.

“So it is.”

“Time to goooo,” Tikki tried to push her.

“Oh, what's the point?!” Chloé complained. “It's not like I can fly up there! Even though I'm a Ladybug hero!”

She turned to Tikki.

“Make me able to fly!”

“No~”

----

As the two Akumas fought, Chat Noir and Marigold managed to reach out to them and attempted to make them stand down.

“I'm the only one who gets to slay that villain, alley cat!”

Unfortunately, the Akumas were so fixated in their fight that they didn't like the interference, and one of Captain Hardrock's cannonballs struck Chat Noir before he could knock Guitar Villain out.

“WAH–!” he shouted as he fell off the dragon.

“I'm the one who gets to sink that ship, you wasp!”

While Guitar Villain hit Marigold with his guitar before she could inutilize one of the ship's engines – causing her to fall off as well.

“AHHH!”

Fortunately, both heroes reached a safe place, but the two Akumas were too high to reach.

“C'mon, Guitar Villain! We've got a duel to finish!”

“You heroes just wait there!”

Marigold and Chat Noir huffed, trying to work out how to stop them, while Scarlet Lady finally arrived.

“Ha! You totally got ignored! Losers!” the so-called heroine exclaimed.

“We're ignoring you too,” Guitar Villain reminded her, causing the heroes to give a knowing look at their 'partner'.

“HEY!”

The Akumas flew away, intent on continuing their fight, while Scarlet Lady angrily pointed at them.

“No fair! We don't have wings or a flying ship!”

Marigold snapped her fingers and turned to Chat Noir.

“Hey, that's right! What about the space potion?”

Chat Noir smiled.

“You're right! Let me just...”

He started to pat his pockets, but then he realized they were not as full as they should have been.

And he turned to Marigold.

“I... I forgot them at home.”

“M–Me too.”

“Pathetic.”

The heroes tried to come up with a plan to deal with the lack of materials, when they saw the twins shouting at their Akumatized parents.

“Do you have to attack each other?!” Juleka screamed, clearly upset.

“Stop pulling others into your drama!” Luka called them out.

The two heroes quickly realized they had had the same idea, and nodded at each other.

“I think this 2-for-1 special calls for a 2-for-1 special, Goldie!” Chat Noir said with a wink, which the Bee Heroine returned.

“Ooo, I think something nice and loud would suit just fine!” she replied, and Chat Noir extended his baton.

“You got it!” he shouted as he jumped away with his weapon.

“Where's he going?” Scarlet Lady asked. “Did he realize he's useless?”

“Nevermind that,” Marigold replied, grabbing her arm. “You and I are gonna protect civilians until he gets back.”

“NOOOOOO!” Scarlet Lady uselessly (as most of her efforts) yelled, unable to free herself from Marigold's iron grip, while Juleka turned to her brother.

“Maybe we should pitch in and help.”

----

“Master Fu!” Adrien said as he entered the old man's house, which was shaking from the sounds of battle. “There's–”

“Two Akumas? I noticed,” Master Fu replied, already opening the gramophone so Adrien could choose a Miraculous. Much to his surprise, he picked the Snake Bracelet and another one. “This is getting risky, Adrien. Five heroes?”

“Well, I only need one Miraculous if you have some space potion lying around,” Adrien replied, making Fu raise an eyebrow.

“And what happened to the one I gave you?” he asked, amused.

“Uh! Well! You can't expect me to carry weird colored cheese with me all the time, can you?” he excused himself, only for Plagg to spring up from behind his shoulder.

“You could if you weren't a COWARD!”

----

While Chat Noir made his way back to his partner, things were getting heated up in the sky, as the Akumas traded accusations, while, below them, Alya, Mylène, and Lila observed.

“You only ever cared about your music! That's why you dumped me when you started climbing the charts!” Captain Hardrock shouted, pointing at Guitar Villain with her large cutlass.

“Whoa,” Alya said with a grimace.

“Omigod the tea,” Lila added.

“Have you caught sea madness?! You dumped me! And didn't even tell me you were pregnant, and blocked me from my own kids!”

“WHAT?!” Alya shouted, feeling like her glasses were breaking apart from the shock, as Mylène looked on, stunned.

“Ohohomighod the tea!” Lila exclaimed.

----

Luckily, Chat Noir arrived soon, and the first thing he did was to walk up to his partner and kiss her hand.

“Welcome back to the party,” Marigold graciously said.

“Please, I am the party,” Chat Noir replied, discreetly passing her the new Miraculous he had picked.

“Did you remember to bring a gift?” she asked, grabbing the richly decorated wooden box.

“Only the best for my honeybee,” he said, smiling at her, before picking Luka up. “C'mon, Luka. Let's go recite our scales.”

Luka looked at Chat Noir with a surprised face.

Meanwhile, Marigold was tossing her top to hook it to a nearby roof and grabbed the other Couffaine sibling, who was shocked.

“Let's go, Juleka.”

“Wuh–HEY!”

Both heroes flew away towards nearby roofs... leaving their 'partner' behind.

“What about me?!” she complained.

(Nobody cared)

----

As soon as they were in a secluded place, Marigold pulled the box Chat Noir had brought her and offered it to Juleka.

“Juleka Couffaine, this is the Tiger Miraculous, which grants the power of Exaltation. You will use it for the greater good,” she said.

“M–Me?” Juleka stumbled. “But I'm not–”

“After helping with Captain Hardrock and Silencer you still don't think you're a hero?” Marigold asked with a smile, making Juleka blush.

“You remembered...” the girl said. It was enough for her to accept opening the box, revealing a panjas bracelet – and a light that flew around her before transforming into a small creature that –

“ROOOAR!”

“Wah–!” Juleka yelled, jumping back from the shock and falling to the ground. The small creature flew closer to her.

“C'mon, let's wreak havoc!” the Tiger Kwami said, grinning.

“O–Okay...” Juleka mumbled, still in shock from the sudden appearance.

“Huh?” the kwami continued, leaning his head. “You say something? Louder!”

“Okay,” Juleka replied in a normal tone.

“LOUDER!”

“OKAAAAAY!” Juleka finally shouted, making the Kwami fly back.

“WHOOOOOAH! Nice and loud! Perfect!” she said, smiling. “My power won't work if you don't feel it!”

Juleka nodded, putting on the bracelet on her right hand.

“Next, just say, 'Roarr–'”

----

“STRIPES ON!”

----

“Alright, ready when you are,” Viperion said, his transformation complete, as Chat Noir looked on, slightly worried.

“You're okay going against your parents?” Chat Noir asked, but Viperion shrugged.

“Going against authority is the Couffaine way,” he replied. “Even your parents.”

Chat Noir nodded – it was an idea that really spoke to his own soul.

“That's such a good way,” he agreed.

----

“Chat Noir!” Marigold said, as she and her new partner landed next to him, Viperion, and Scarlet Lady.

“Ah, the gang's all here!” the Cat Hero happily exclaimed, while Scarlet looked on with disgust.

“Gross, you got another cat?”

“The name is Purple Tigress,” the new heroine replied, while Marigold turned to her oldest partner.

“Chaton, I need you to throw us as high as you can!”

“Sure thing!” he replied, extending his baton as far as he could and telling the two girls to stand at the other end of it. “Me and Viperion will keep protecting citizens!”

“Ew!” Scarlet Lady said, running after Marigold and Purple Tigress. “Then I'm coming with–”

Too late, as Chat Noir pulled with all his strength and sent the Bee and Tiger Heroines flying – while whacking Scarlet Lady in the face.

“AH!”

Chat Noir grinned before walking to continue the work of helping innocent people.

----

The Akumas were so absorbed into their fight that, while trying to stop them was hard, stealing their Akumatized objects was another matter entirely.

“Ahoy, Captain Hardrock!” Marigold cheekily greeted her as she grabbed one half while dodging her slashes. “Yoink!”

“HEY!”

“Time to turn down the volume!” Purple Tigress said as she spun around Guitar Villain, who couldn't make heads nor tails of the new heroine as she grabbed the second half of the disc.

“OI!”

“You're ruining the music!”

The duo quickly jumped to the end of the flying ship and –

“HA!”

“HNGH!”

– snapped both halves of the disc over their knees!

But... nothing happened.

“... where's the Akuma?” the heroines asked themselves.

----

Chat Noir saw that both heroines were holding onto the end of his baton and contracted it.

“Aaaand they're back,” he announced, but when they returned it was obvious something had gone wrong. “It didn't work?”

“No!” Marigold shouted, observing the disc pieces and trying to find some clue in them. “I don't get it!”

“Me either,” Purple Tigress admitted.

“I saw the Akuma go in before it was broken–” both Viperion and Purple Tigress said at the same time, and they gave each other a glare.

“I got it!” Marigold interrupted. “We put them together and then break it!”

She grabbed Scarlet Lady's hand.

“Hurry, use your Lucky Charm!”

“Don't boss me around,” the Ladybug 'heroine' said, but still she created the magical object they needed to solve the problem.

“Purple Tigress, use your power to keep them at bay!” Chat Noir said, but the Tiger Heroine was doubtful.

“W-What if I miss, or, I can't pull it off?!” she asked, scared of failure. “Roarr said I had to 'feel it'!”

“Hey,” Viperion gently said. “Second Chance.”

Purple Tigress looked at him in shock.

“Now no matter how many times you need, I'll make sure you get your shot,” he said, smiling. “But I bet you'll only need one chance.”

Purple Tigress smiled back at him, and, encouraged by his support, turned towards the dueling Akumas.

“You two are always so damn loud. No one can get a word in edgewise!” she growled as her right fist shone in purple, swirling energy – and jumped. “How is anyone supposed to settle things when you won't listen?! It's time for you two to SHUT THE HELL UP!”

She reached the flying ship, still engaged in fight with the dragon, and her clenched fist struck the former.

“CLOUT!”

The energy collided with the ship, and the explosion of energy suddenly sent both Akumas flying arse over teakettle... much to the shock of Chat Noir and Viperion, who watched the entire thing with wide open eyes and an inability to look away.

“Ready, Chat Noir!” Marigold happily declared after using the Lucky Charm – a roll of adhesive tape – to put the disc back together.

“C–Cataclysm,” Chat Noir said without looking away from the Clout explosion.

----

Once everything was fixed up, Marigold took Purple Tigress aside, and she returned to her civilian identity of Juleka Couffaine, who carefully took the bracelet and put it back into its box.

“Thanks for trusting me, Marigold,” she said, giving the box back to the Bee Heroine.

“Whoo! That was awesome!” Roarr said, floating and smiling at her temporary wielder. “It's been a while since I've felt this refreshed! Feels good to let it out, right?”

“Yeah, it does!” Juleka exclaimed, before she remembered the other thing that had happened earlier, and turned to Marigold. “... um... you should know... I figured out Viperion's identity. And he probably knows mine.”

“Oh...” Marigold replied, before she started to get covered in a cold sweat. “I–It's fine. Probably.”

“Are you sure?” Juleka asked. “You don't look fine.”

“Nah, it's probably cool.”

----

Unfortunately, while they may have been deakumatized, it hadn't brought peace, because Anarka and Jagged had resumed their argument from earlier.

“You shipwrecker! This was your fault!” Anarka screamed.

“You're the one off-key!” Jagged screamed back.

“Oh my god, SHUT UP!” Juleka interrupted, fed up with the shouting. “No one cares who's fault it is, so drop it and at least be civil!”

Both adults pulled back and looked chagrined in the face of the girl's wrath, and Anarka pointed at a suddenly shy Jagged Stone.

“J–Juleka, there's something you don't know about this ship rat–”

“What, that he's my dad?” Juleka asked with a deadpan face.

“You knew?!” the adults shouted at the same time.

“I've always known,” Juleka replied, crossing her arms, while her friends reacted in different ways, from Rose's smile to Alix sticking her tongue. “And now so does all of Paris.”

After a few seconds of silence, the adults turned back to each other.

“This isn't something we can be civil about!” Jagged shouted. “Bob gave me your letter! It said you wanted nothing to do with me! It didn't even mention the kids!”

“Have you swallowed sea water?!” Anarka accused. “Bob gave me your letter and it said you wanted nothing to do with me! Right after I told Bob I was pregnant–”

As they listened to what the other was saying, Anarka and Jagged realized something that was missing.

The neuron they needed to realize what had really happened that day, sixteen years before.

Their growing fury turned so incandescent, that Jagged Stone and Anarka Couffaine looked like they were about to fire a Kamehameha at something – or someone.

“BOB!”

----

In one of the many streets that populated the fair city of Paris, a certain music producer (who, in his free time, also was a walking excrement) called Bob Roth felt a shiver running down his back, as if someone had stepped over his (shallow) tomb.

“Why do I feel a sudden chill...?” he asked himself.

Not having any pattern recognition, he didn't give it the importance it required.

----

Anarka and Jagged's brief foray into Saiyanism ended, and both of them collapsed into the Liberty's deck, as they realized what they could have avoided if they hadn't trusted the wrong person.

“I feel so dumb...” Anarka mumbled.

“All this time...” Jagged mumbled.

“This day has been so weird,” Alya declared, and everyone else nodded.

“Alright, everyone!” Penny said, clapping her hands and catching everyone's attention. “Let's not forget, we're here to celebrate! Let's get back to it!”

Everyone cheered in agreement, and Anarka and Jagged were shaken off their brooding: standing up, they hugged each other.

“I'm sorry, Nanarky,” Jagged said.

“I'm sorry too, you old pirate,” Anarka gently replied.

“Let's figure this out later,” Jagged added, before looking at his ever-faithful assistant. “Penny.”

“Already on it,” she said with a grin that wouldn't have been out of place in a sea predator or in a law firm.

----

Jagged offered to play with his children and their group for the party, and they all agreed: playing with Jagged Stone, famous rock and roll star, AND father of about half the group? No one was crazy enough to pass on the opportunity!

“I know I have a lot of time to make up for...” Jagged said as they adjusted their strings, “but I'm gonna do my best to play to your tunes.”

“I know it'll be a beautiful duet, Dad,” Luka said, hugging his father.

“You're speaking my language,” Jagged replied, and Luka let him go so Juleka could glomp him.

“I love you, Papa,” Juleka added.

“You rock my world, too.”

“Please don't get back with Maman.”

“Pretty sure that ship has sailed,” Jagged sentenced.

----

The party was now in full swing. With Kitty Section having done its part, now it was time for DJ Nino to put on some of his music, and everyone was now cheering in unison to the new tunes.

That was when Lila corralled Luka.

“A-HA!” she shouted, and Luka turned to look at her, as she gave a knowing grin. “If Jagged Stone is both you and Juleka's dad, then you have to be twins!”

Luka looked back at her, and shrugged.

“Guess you got me,” he admitted, and Lila smirked.

“Ha! Yes! I win!” she said, walking away. “Nothing gets past me!”

Except the smirk Luka was now bearing, and which she missed because she wasn't looking.

You still haven't figured out my age, though, he thought as he tried to contain his laughter.

----

In one of the most expensive and famous restaurants of Paris, the aforementioned music producer-slash-walking excrement was sitting down at a table, ready to partake in a delicious lunch.

“Enjoy your meal, M. Roth,” the elégant waitress said, and walked to her waiting place while Bob opened his Loco laptop in order to check his business.

Sadly for him, he was doing this as he drank from a glass of Perrier water, and the moment he saw the latest email he had received, he spewed most of what he had drunk and began to choke on the rest.

“M. Roth?!” the worried waitress asked, while in the screen of the laptop glared three large lines that spelled doom for the producer.

Notice of Termination

Penny Rolling

You're fired, Bob.

----

Robostus

@zoe-oneesama How far can Clout fire Bob Roth? Answer: Not far enough.

Apologies for taking so long in writing this chapter! It's been quite the month, between work, personal projects, real life issues... I never found the time nor the boost I needed to get back into writing this novelization! But, between the one-shot I wrote (only if (a) you are a RWBY fan and (b) at least 18 years old) and a request from @sassy-but-sweet-purrrincess29, I got back into the saddle!

I hope to be able to finish Season 4 before the end of year, and continue with a similar tempo as earlier. Please, bear with me (also, we've got the events at the end of Style Queen, and I really want to write that scene!).

With this chapter, we've reached 477 pages, 191,219 words, 1,030,945 characters!

See you soon!

#scarlet lady the novel #fanfiction #milarqui #long post #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #marigold #chat noir #scarlet lady is better than canon #luka couffaine #viperion #juleka couffaine #purple tigress #crocoduel

[milarqui]

hey um, are you doing okay? i just noticed you haven’t posted in a while and I wanted to tell you that I love what you do it’s amazing and I hope that whatever problems I’m assuming your having go away soon. sorry if I’m just bothering you

Don't worry! Yeah, I've been stuck with some personal projects, and I haven't been working on Scarlet Lady for a while. I'll try to get the next chapter before the month is done!

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady Essay: Frightningale

Yet another essay for @zoe-oneesama. Because you deserve it.

I’m not going to bother with a compare/contrast of canon vs Scarlet Lady Frightningale because Frightningale in canon was a pretty forgettable episode. Akuma was lame. Setup was wasted. And it’s removal from the series would lose nothing of value.

So instead, I'm going to focus primarily on the Scarlet Lady version of Frightningale and what it does that makes it memorable.

I guess to start with, I should make it clear that I’m not a fan of shows being lazy, especially when they display a lack of planning or consideration of their story and characters. And perhaps one of the greater indicators of this issue is when a series suddenly realizes they they neglected multiple plot points until it’s too late to give them all the focus they warrant so they end up shoving all of those points into one episode and try to present it like it’s supposed to be an adequate resolution of all that buildup or in any way intentional.

Penalteam was that episode for Miraculous. They had the “temporary heroes” setup going for them but then wasted so much time on filler like Frightningale that it seems like they honestly forgot about it until they were reaching a designated end point and they realized they still had four more heroes they were supposed to introduce. Whoops? Ah well, just introduce them all at once. Not like anyone will care!

And when you treat most of the cast like they’re all as shallow as a puddle, I guess that’s true.

The thing is, when you have a setup where there is a running theme of every person in a specific group getting their own episode/chapter to detail their issues and how they get a power up, it’s going to stand out whenever one of them doesn’t. Especially when that one or more are forced to share their limelight episode. 

That’s not to say you can’t do it, but it’s bound to get attention if you do. It reflects poorly on the writing. It shows whom the “favored” and “unfavored” characters are. And it displays the issue with pacing—namely that it’s next to nonexistent until it hits you with the force of a freight train.

But can it be done and be done well? Is it possible to pull off such a thing and have it make sense and fit in lines with the characters?

Well, yes. Off the top of my head, I can think of two different ways to do it to make it work.

And Zoe did both of them.

If you look at Scarlet Lady as a whole, you’ll see a conglomeration of characters—each with stories and arcs attached. They have personalities. They have goals and problems and their own highs and lows. One sign of good writing is that some focus is given to highlight these other characters as people. Individuals in their own right with lives outside of the main characters or situation.

Miraculous doesn't really do this.

Scarlet Lady, however, does. Because contrary to the title, Scarlet Lady isn’t just about Chloe.

It isn’t even just about the heroes.

It isn’t just about Chloe being horrible. Or Marinette being in love. Or Adrien being in desperate need of a hug and a nap. Because while the story is centered around them, it isn’t solely about them. Other characters get focus and growth and their own arcs throughout the comics.

But the big two—the BIGGEST two with arguably the most depth and most growth and quite frankly the best storylines out of everyone in the entire series?

It’s Sabrina and Lila. And their individual stories have led up to this.

As such, this episode—which was mostly filler and all around forgettable in canon, matters here.

It’s where Sabrina and Lila reach the culmination of their respective character arcs. 

Yes, it’s when they both get to become Miraculous Heroes and meet their own kwamis, but it’s more than just that! They both hang out with the girls group as full members of the crew, getting to take part in a music video together. It’s also where they both get to stand up for themselves and the city at large while calling out Chloe and Scarlet Lady. This is what their storylines have been building up to and where their growth really shows.

Sabrina started out as Chloe’s minion same as canon—albeit with more attention to her feelings and her responses, no matter how seemingly small, allowing her to feel more like her own person. And through this focus, we got to see her open up more, pull and eventually break away from Chloe and her influence, and over time stand up for herself and try to establish herself both with the class and as an individual.

Lila started off as a liar and manipulator, selfish and self centered, much like canon. Unlike canon, her lies are tied to her issues, noted to be poorly thought through, and give her more introspection as a person. After the lies are revealed, she’s not “redeemed” so much as she is “accountable”, and it doesn’t change who she is. She remains selfish and certainly far from being considered “good”, but she’s letting people in past her walls and masks in a way she hadn’t been able to before.

Both of these things? Figuring out who you are and letting people know you for who you are? They’re incredibly hard. And a lot of time was devoted to both of their journeys along the course of the comic.

Sabrina’s arc was about her figuring out who she is on her own. Outside of Chloe and her previous role of being a follower and lackey. And sometimes it feels less scary to stay with someone toxic than to be alone and facing the unknown. We see it in the way she tries to put herself out there afterwards, reaching out and risking rejection and just figuring herself out. Even or perhaps especially with those she already knows and has a less than positive history with.

And we still see the struggle of her view of herself in this episode. It was in the way she was upset that she legitimately tried to help and it still resulted in bad things happening. And it was also clear when she calls herself a “sidekick” to Marigold after the day was saved, as if it’s a role she still sees herself as and one she struggles not to fall in to. Over time, we’re seeing Sabrina learning that she doesn’t have to be attached or subservient to someone else to have an identity or be accepted. 

Lila’s arc involved her figuring out who she is with people. Outside of the lies and manipulations she creates, the masks she wears, and the identities she crafts to make people like her. The “real Lila” is far from the best person and arguably not even a good person, but she also doesn’t have to be for the others to accept her as the still somewhat bad influence she is. She’s still very much selfish and flawed, but she’s less inclined to hide it or treat it like something that needs to be hidden. And isn’t that a common lesson? That it’s better to be liked for who you are than to force yourself to be someone else to be liked?

And at the same time, even with being less than a fully good person, she’s showing that she can still find better ways of acting that allow her to help others rather than hurt them or serve herself. She still hates Scar, but rather than working with Hawk Moth to kill her and risk dooming Paris and the world, she’s instead working with Alya through more legitimate (and legal) means…and hitting Scar where it hurts most. She and Adrien may not be friends, but rather than try to punish him for not going along with her, she’s instead rescued him, putting herself on the line—something that the former Lila wouldn’t have considered doing and one that canon Lila wouldn’t be capable of. Even if she’s motivated by pettiness or self-interest, what would have been straight up revenge on someone who upset her has grown to be something that is working in everyone’s better interests.

Both Lila and Sabrina hid themselves in different ways and for different reasons. So having them both assert themselves and call out both Chloe and Scarlet Lady is a show of their growth and overall a huge deal. It’s not something either of them would have done at the start of the series. Sabrina, because she was a “yes man” who wouldn’t dare to argue with Chloe and Lila because she wouldn’t risk openly doing something to make herself a target. 

And now boom! Look at them both! Lila stepped up to openly and publicly denounce Scarlet Lady as not being a hero for real reasons that aren’t just about herself or her feelings—complete with receipts! The girl did her research, noting incidents from before she even came into the picture. Then follow up with Sabrina standing up against Chloe’s machinations and dismantling Chloe’s main source of power: her father. Even better, she’s using logic and knowledge she would have as a former ally of Chloe’s who would know her tricks, taking her former friendship with Chloe and using it against her.

And on top of that, each of them are given the Miraculous by the person they wronged in the past. Marinette to Sabrina and Adrien to Lila. Especially in Lila’s case, it says a lot that they’re trusted. That shows narratively that even with their mistakes and bad choices and continued struggles, they still can move forward—not necessarily to find redemption, but to find themselves and be their best selves.

This is why it makes sense for them to share this episode. It’s also why both of them speaking up matters. They are both publicly confronting their greatest foe, and the fact that their foes are really two faces of the same person further highlights this. 

So they both have issues with the same person, are dealing with forming their identities without catering to others, are working out how to have/be friends, were formerly not the best of people, and have a fear of rejection. As such, this isn’t just their obligatory hero episode, this is what their individual stories have been leading up to. Almost like they’re two sides of the same coin. And the comparison between the two helps them both shine.

And speaking of shining, does anyone remember how the all girls team up didn’t get a chance to shine in canon? Zoe sure did.

I have a whole list of problems I have regarding Party Crasher, but perhaps number seven on that list is that the boys got to have an all male temp hero team up episode while the girls didn’t.

In fact, by this episode in canon, only Alya, Chloe, and Kagami actually got to be temp heroes.

To be fair, only four of the guys out of seven in canon got to be part of their particular event in Party Crasher, leaving out Ivan (who often tends to get overlooked) and Nathaniel (who has had a precedent of just literally disappearing from the episode). But originally, part of the appeal of Party Crasher was that the focus was supposed to be on the male classmates and getting to see at least some of them being part of a team against the akuma.

Why then didn’t we get an episode like this with the girls? Or at least something LIKE this?

Frightningale became that episode. And if any of the episodes were to do it, it makes the most sense for Frightningale to be the one.

All of the girls were together to take part in this event. So Zag would have had the perfect excuse to include them all in the fight or just have the girls do something to help even as civilians. I mean, we’ve had episodes do this before. Max in Robustus. Nathaniel and Alix in Reverser. Luka in Captain Hardrock. Let the civilians show their heroic traits even before they become heroes. It’s not a Miraculous, but it’s still giving them focus and expanding on them as individuals.

Instead, canon Frightningale was a filler episode. And not even a good one. For an akuma who forces people to sing or dance, it’s a waste that they just had the heroes spend the whole time rhyming. A waste of writing and talent. I mean, have you heard Christina Vee sing? If there needed to be a musical episode, I would think that the akuma who forces people to sing would certainly warrant it! At least more than it’s Christmas and they sing just cuz.

So this is yet another thing that Zoe improves with the Scarlet Lady version of this episode. Giving us the all girl team up episode so many of us have long wanted and getting to see all the female heroes together at last. 

And with this, we get the full roster of friends-turned heroes.

Except for Alix. Poor, poor Alix.  ;_;

Your day will come.

In this way, the end where Clara goes a different direction with her music video feels less like a half-assed fix to a half-forgotten plot point and more like something that was built by everyone involved. I don’t know about the rest of you, but given Clara’s excitement over the all girl band playing and Pigella’s gift showing Clara an idea for her video, it highlights the focus on EVERYONE being part of this—both the video and the episode itself. It kind of comes off as a lesson of its own about teamwork and giving everyone a shot rather than focusing specifically only on one or two specific individuals.

And isn’t that what separates the heroes from Scarlet Lady?

But there’s a third important aspect of this episode.

This is the episode where Chloe is smacked in the face with Scarlet Lady’s falling popularity. 

Let’s remember that at the start of the comic, Scarlet Lady was fully and widely considered THE Hero of Paris. She was beloved for doing nothing and it was a point of frustration for Chat, who actually was having to pick up her slack. Initially, there was nothing he could do because him being the only real hero among the duo meant he often couldn't stick around after akuma fights to prevent Scar from telling "our story". In addition, he didn’t know who she was or who chose her and why. Then even when it was clear her getting the Earrings was a mistake, for a lot of the first couple seasons, she was so popular that they couldn’t just take the Earrings away from her lest they risk backlash from the rest of the city. It’s a backlash that seems increasingly unlikely as more and more people get to see her behavior and callousness firsthand.

We’ve seen hints of it in other episodes, but none of them were so blatant to Chloe that she couldn’t ignore it or shrug it off or otherwise make excuses to protect her ego.

Prime Queen wanted to focus on Marigold and Chat Noir for their “romance” to try and boost ratings. Alya and Lila made some snarky comments, but Chloe could easily dismiss them both. Nadja also made a comment that nobody cared about Scarlet’s love life, but a lack of interest in her love life isn’t a lack of interest in herself and Chloe despises both of her “sidekicks” and wouldn’t want anyone trying to pair her with them anyway. And Nadja reassures her that they’ll focus on her after they’re done with Chat and Marigold. So yes, she can dismiss that as well.

Reverser has Chloe faced with both of her identities are made as villains in art and a story. However, she clearly looks down on Nathaniel and Marc barely registers to her. So she can dismiss them.

Look at Despair Bear, the Intermission, the interactions with the various other heroes, and the fact that only Chat Noir and Marigold are privy to the Guardian’s secret existence and allowed to pass out other Miraculous. Much has been shown of the other characters being less than impressed with her, snarky towards her, or showing the process of how they discover the truth about her and how she actually handles akuma attacks…namely in that she doesn’t. And Chloe can dismiss all of that because to her, none of them really matter to her.

But Chloe can’t dismiss the fact that a renown celebrity dedicating a music video to the “Heroes of Paris” isn’t including her. Bad enough her sidekicks are taking center stage but she’s not even in the music video at all?

And when someone she despises calls out the reasons why she’s not a hero in an openly public setting surrounded by a multitude of people who all agree with her? You could say it’s insult to injury. But some would say it was a long time coming.

Some Rando: Scarlet Lady sucks! Alya: Marigold and Chat Noir do all the work, not her! Kagami: She’s barely even necessary at this point. Clara: This video and song are to celebrate hope and love. And Scarlet Lady lacks both when push comes to shove. Chloe: ARGHHH! WHATEVER!

It further shows the turning tide of public opinion against Scar. What was once a trickle has grown into a wave, and now Chloe is forced to acknowledge her image and status aren’t as ironclad as she thought. Sure, she could denounce Lila as a liar like she’s done before, but Lila is bringing up instances that Chloe can’t deny: being late (as she’s just plain been a no show to several fights), endangering civilians, and being caught live on camera being willing to let someone die in a particularly horrible way because it’s easier.

This is the episode where it’s not just people seeing Scar is horrible, but acting on it and letting Chloe know they know she’s horrible. It’s reached the point where Chloe can’t just disregard the claims or discount and ignore her critics. And we’re seeing Chloe starting to lose control as a result. To the point she has to force her dad to ruin a previously sanctioned event in what has to be one of his most flagrant displays of abuse of power to date just to shut down her detractors.

And even that would come with more consequences for Chloe if it had been allowed to continue. Sabrina herself points it out that Clara is very popular with a lot of fans—people who would be aware she’s making a music video and whom would be very disappointed if word got out that it was cancelled due to an issue with the Mayor. And given all the very unhappy people we see in the comic in question where she points that out, it stands to reason that the word would get out. Heck, I’d be surprised if someone wasn’t recording it.

Then there’s the love square/hero shenanigans.

Remember how in canon, the whole “playing themselves/risking identities” bit kinda just dropped out halfway in? The kwamis were the only authority figures involved to call out on the risk and of the two, Plagg didn’t care and Tikki gave one knowing stare at Marinette before turning around to gush about the suit. Even though Marinette offers the alternative idea to the music video by the end, there’s no further comment or notice of how she and Adrien nearly blew their identities….or alternatively a comedic take where nobody recognizes them regardless and they worried for nothing. Honestly, I would have taken either setup.

Having Fu present to call them both out shows there is a responsible authority figure watching, makes it clear there are rules they are expected to follow, and reinforces that this was, in fact, a horrible idea. Sure, Marinette and Adrien worried enough to hide their masks, but it should have been obvious that wouldn’t work long term. They are risking their identities, not just to Paris but to each other. And he calls them out for doing it on purpose.

Then there’s the beautiful crescendo of the love square dance in that the two both pretty much have figured out the other’s identity and just want an identity reveal to make it official—which Fu won’t allow. We see it in their playful banter that gets mistaken for “getting into character” and in Adrien in particular pushing Marinette to take part.

This is a point where we are seeing them be teenagers. Foolish of them? Yes. Should they have known better and not done it? Yes. But is it in character and the sort of teenage shenanigans we would expect of teenage superheroes? Definitely. And that’s part of the point. Because they are teenagers. Teenagers in love, no less. Teenagers in love with secret identities to dance around. Which is half the fun of secret identities!

It’s just another aspect to this episode that makes it enjoyable.

So overall, the episode matters in ways that the canon version didn’t and was fun in ways that the canon version wasn’t, making it stand out not just as an episode or a remake of the canon episode, but as its own standalone episode AND a noteworthy point in the overall story.

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady: Ikari Gozen

Directory | Desperada

Everybody sighed in relief as classes for the day finally ended, and everyone stretched out as they put their stuff back into their backpacks and bags.

And, of course, the talk of the day was the 'Friendship Day' the city was organizing on the weekend, for people to enjoy time with their friends at cafes, shops, and other entertainment options.

“Hey, mec, got plans for 'Friendship Day'?” Nino asked Adrien, who gave a strange smile.

“Actually, I'm the 'Hidden Celebrity' for KIDZ+'s hunt,” he admitted, and Nino gave a jerk of surprise.

“Whoa!” That meant he'd likely be stuck somewhere while waiting for the contest to end.

“I don't mind!” Adrien added, still smiling. “I like meeting fans!”

Behind his back, his friends began to think.

Adrien's the prize?

Then a terrible idea came to mind.

What if the winner is a crazy fan?! Or a creepy old person?!

The mere idea that their friend could be in danger made them sweat in horror. And they all reached the same conclusion.

One of us has to win the game!

----

Ondine smiled as she read the message she had just received.

“Kagami, did you get Marinette's message about the KIDZ+ Buddy Game?”

“Yes,” her friend declared, as she pressed on her smartphone's screen. “And now it's deleted.”

“Wuh–?! Why?!” Ondine asked, shocked.

“My mother goes through my phone,” Kagami said, as if it were normal, and Ondine felt angry on her best (female) friend's behalf. “So I delete messages and don't save any contacts.”

“Huh? How are you able to text me without my number?” she asked again, and Kagami gave a small, bright smile.

“I've memorized it. And Marinette's. And Adrien's and Alya's and Kim's and --”

“Wow!” She doubted she could memorize more than her family's and Kim's numbers, and here Kagami was doing that with everyone she knew!

----

“Okay, Buddies!” Aurore announced as the countdown began. “When Adrien pushes this button, you'll get your first riddle!”

“This will lead you to your buddy!” Mireille continued, holding the large tablet with the image of a button. “From there you'll solve more riddles that'll lead you to Adrien!”

“I'll be waiting for the winners!” Adrien said, as the studio began the final countdown.

“3, 2, 1, GO!”

And Adrien pressed the button.

----

“'I'm the highest heart of the city',” Alya read, grinning. “Ah, the Sacre-Cœur! See ya!”

----

“'Where animals live next to dinosaurs,'” Rose read, smiling as she came with the solution. “Oh, the zoo by the paleontology museum! Fun!”

----

“'Once home of royalty, now home of art',” Alix read, smirking and pumping a fist. Seriously, the clue was aimed at what was pretty much her home! “The Louvre! Easy!”

----

“'With one turn of a handle I can raise the level'?” Marinette read, grimacing at the apparent nonsense she had been sent. “What's with this difficulty spike?!”

----

Kagami jumped back as her mother's bokken came too close to her face, before she could try to deflect it.

“Too slow! Remember the story of Tomoe Gozen!” her mother screamed. “A female samurai when warrior women were rare and scorned!”

Kagami took off her mask as her mother stepped back, marking the end of the bout.

“As elusive as the wind! As powerful as the flood! As swift as lightning!”

Ugh, this story again, she thought. Her mother wasn't much of a talker, but she loved to tell the tale of Tomoe Gozen. No matter how many times she had said it, she would always do so at least once more. Also, a deeper part of Kagami pondered her mother's hypocrisy in telling her to be like a woman who had gone after the expectations of society while stifling her opportunities to have a normal life.

DING!

Oops, she forgot to turn off her smartphone's warnings.

“What was that.”

And that was why she shouldn't have forgot.

“Um...”

Great, now she had to see how to get away with it.

----

She hadn't got away with it.

“It's for a game, Okaa-san,” she said.

“You don't have permission to play a 'game',” her mother declared, as if that were the end of the discussion.

“Adrien is participating,” Kagami pointed out. Not that it seemed to sway her.

“Hmph,” Tomoe Tsurugi growled. “Then Gabriel is more foolish than I thought, being so permissive.”

Given how much of a... alright, control freak Gabriel Agreste was, that said more about her mother than about the man.

“Regardless, this and that have nothing to do with each other. I forbid you to play.”

That did it. Every time she had wanted to do something for herself, to have what other people would consider normal, she had to hide, escape, lie. Because heaven forbid that Tomoe Tsurugi's daughter was more than a doll for her to play with when she wanted and kept in a box the rest of the time.

Today, she would do it again.

I'm gonna play even harder now! Kagami furiously thought, while her mother remained unaware of what was going to happen.

“Tatsu, to the Grand Palais,” Tomoe ordered. Unbeknownst to the woman, Kagami had recorded her voice. Hopefully, she'd be able to find where she had to go first and have the car lead her there.

----

As pairs of teenagers checked their phones and run around Paris to follow the clues of the Friendship Challenge, a certain someone was looking at them and discarding them.

“Too dumb looking. Too unfashionable. Too ridiculous!” Chloé Bourgeois said aloud, pointing at the different pairs, while Ondine and her friend Freddy looked at her with confusion and a bit of irritation.

“Chloé, what are you doing?” Tikki whispered from the bag.

“I'm looking for a smart-looking pair of 'buddies', duh,” she said. “That way I don't have to do the dirty work of finding Adrien! I'm so smart!”

Tikki raised an eyebrow.

“Why didn't you just sign up to play?” she pointed out.

“My application was denied for some reason,” Chloé pouted, and Tikki rolled her eyes. Right, the prohibition from the bowler hat competition...

----

It had taken a while for her to realize the meeting point was Canal Saint-Martin: one turn of a handle, and the water level would change for the connection between the Seine and the Canal de l'Ourcq. A different turn, and it became drained, which happened at least once per decade, as needed.

The best, though, what who she found at the point.

“Kagami's my buddy, yay!” she cheered, and Kagami replied with a smile.

“I'm glad too.”

Immediately, Marinette moved on to hook an arm around Kagami's and the two began to make their way out, and towards their next target.

“Between the two of us we'll win for sure!” Marinette happily declared.

“Un,” Kagami agreed. “So, the second riddle...”

Marinette pressed the button to declare that she had met her buddy, and got the riddle.

“'To get closer to your goal, you must explore further and deeper',” she read out loud.

“Hm. Further down the banks of the Seine, which is deeper than this canal,” Kagami suggested.

Behind them, out of sight, a girl they both despised was stalking her.

“Target acquired!” Chloé said. As she followed them, Tikki stuck her head out of her hideaway in Chloé's hair.

“Gawd, Chloé, leave Marinette and Kagami alone!” the Kwami chastised her.

“True, they're not smart enough to win,” Chloé answered, demonstrating, for the n-th time, her inability to understand such simple concepts as 'common decency'. “But, like, they might! And that's not fair! Adrihoney already plays with Dupain-Cheng at school and not me! And then he plays with Tsurugi after school and makes no time for me! The only way to make it fair is to make sure they lose!”

“Nooo!” Tikki complained. Once more, she wondered: what had she done to deserve this?! She had saved Joan from the fire, dammit!

----

“Why'd they only give us one pole?” Marinette pondered as she cast the line. She hadn't done this much, but she thought she could do it.

“So... do you prefer to be called by your whole name or a nickname?” Kagami suddenly asked as she looked away.

“Huh? What brought this on?” Marinette asked in a low voice, but she supposed there was nothing to lose in answering. “I don't really have a nickname. Though Alya calls me 'M' sometimes.”

“I see,” Kagami said, uncertain. Marinette, knowing what she did about her buddy, was certain she wasn't sure of how to continue, so she did it for her.

“What about you?”

“No one's ever given me one before,” the fencer admitted, which made Marinette a bit sad on the inside.

“Alya will for sure!” she tried to cheer her up. “Hope you like being 'K'.”

After a couple of seconds of silence, Kagami replied.

“... can I workshop that?”

Marinette smiled widely.

“Is 'Gami' good?”

“Not bad. I'd call you 'Mari-chan', but...”

“Yeah, not in French,” Marinette replied, laughing. It would certainly be awkward to be called 'husband' by her buddy!

----

“What are they doing?” Chloé asked, mystified as she saw the two girls talking.

“Being friends?” Tikki replied, dripping so much sarcasm that she could have probably filled a barrel with it.

----

Chloé had found a box, and was trying to get away with it.

“Hey, look, that's the box!”

Chloé threw the box away and ran.

----

Chloé had moved the box under one table.

“Marinette, I have found the box. It's strange that it was put under this table, though,” Kagami said.

Chloé bit her nails in anger.

----

Chloé had found another box, and quickly went to throw it out of the building.

“This is the box we were meant to find!”

“Good. We're getting closer to our goal!”

Chloé twitched as she realized she had actually helped those two!

Tikki just snickered.

----

“Last step: Trust Challenge. Take a selfie in front of a monument using each other's phone,” Kagami said, as she handed Marinette her phone, “then regroup and take a selfie together. Only then will you get Adrien's location.”

“We're so close!” Marinette replied as she passed her phone to Kagami. Since they were at the Place de la Concorde, there were plenty of monuments to take a selfie with!

“We'll meet back here and win!”

With cellphones exchanged, the two girls rushed to find different monuments to certify the first half of the challenge, and Pollen came out of the bag.

“You did it, My Queen!” the Kwami cheered.

“Almost! Teaming up with Kagami has been a total dream~!”

“DUPAIN-CHENG!”

“AHHH, CHLOÉ! MY NIGHTMARE!”

Great, even now Chloé was out to ruin her life.

“C-Chloé, wha–?!” Marinette asked, but Chloé interrupted.

“You finally got the last clue, right?” the major irritant asked, pointing at Kagami's phone in her hand. Before she could react, Chloé stole it off her hand and began to laugh. “Now I'm going to meet with myyy Adrien!”

“Hey!” she finally reacted, and began to run after her.

Only for a very furious Kagami to intercept the eyesore.

“EEP!”

----

In his lair underneath the Agreste Mansion, Hawkmoth perked up.

“Hm?”

Another potential Akuma?

----

“GIVE IT BACK!” Kagami shouted as she tackled Chloé, but found herself with an ugly sandal on her face.

“NO!” Chloé shrieked as she was tackled from behind by Marinette, grabbing her by the neck. “OH!”

“CHLOÉ!” Marinette shouted as well, grappling with her life's personal demon, when the phone began to ring.

And Chloé picked up.

“Hello~?”

“KAGAMI!” Tomoe Tsurugi's voice shouted from the other side, causing Kagami to let go in shock, allowing Chloé to escape. “WHERE ARE YOU?! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE AT HOME!”

“Ohoho! Little Kagami snuck out to play a game?” Chloé laughed, as she ran just ahead of Marinette and Kagami.

“Why are you so fast?!” Marinette complained, which was understandable, given that Chloé was wearing sandals while she and Kagami wore shoes that were better for running, and yet Chloé was staying out of reach.

“SCANDALOUS!” Chloé shrieked, as if she were an American schoolgirl called Ashley.

“GAME?! BUT I FORBADE HER!”

“Uh, I know? That's why I'm telling on her?”

The distraction from that was enough for Marinette to finally tackle Chloé and recover the phone, but the damage had been done already. Still, she had to try to fix it!

“Mme., don't worry, Kagami's with a friend, staying safe–”

“Kagami doesn't have friends!”

Marinette gave the phone a weird look, as she grabbed Chloé's face when she tried to steal the phone again. Either Mme. Tsurugi was willfully ignorant of Kagami's life, or she was another Gabriel Agreste.

Then again, Gabriel Agreste was willfully ignorant of Adrien's life as well...

“Wha–? That's not true,” Marinette replied, but then Kagami gently picked the phone and started to talk.

“Actually, Okaa-san, I do have friends! Lots of friends! Wonderful friends!” she said, her expression turning thunderous as she kept talking. “Friends I chose myself because I'm DONE with you CONTROLLING MY LIFE –!”

“With pleasure, Hawkmoth.”

“UGHHHHHH!”

Heaven's sake, one couldn't even berate their parent for being a control freak without them being akumatized.

----

It was only moments later that the Akuma, a large metal statue-like golem with the same colors as the Tsurugi's car, showed up at the Place de la Concorde.

“Kagami! You disobeyed me!” Yeah, this was Kagami's mother. “You'll never go out again!”

But, as she made to grab her daughter, Kagami dodged – and the red hand grabbed Chloé.

“Wha–hey!”

“Tsk! Missed,” the Akuma said with a gravely voice, but clearly it didn't care who she had grabbed – and opened its mouth wide.

“Ooooooom–”

“EEEEEEE! EW! EW! EW! EW!”

And Chloé disappeared down the gullet of the Akuma.

Kagami and Marinette looked at each other, a bit disgusted about what they had witnessed and also a bit scared at what was going on.

“You won't get away from me, Kagami!”

Yeah, it was time to run.

----

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE BLUETOOTH, THIS IS SO LAME!” Chloé yelled from the (surprisingly) comfortable seat in the 'stomach' of the Akuma.

Tikki rolled her eyes at the priorities of her wielder.

Not to mention you can't transform here without giving away your identity, she thought.

----

Adrien checked his friends' photos on the phone as he waited for the end of the contest. Aurore and Mireille had been updating him on how people were doing (in general – they couldn't tell him who was where), and he knew that the contest would end soon. If he was lucky, it would be at least one of his friends that won. If he was very lucky...

“AKUMA ALERT, AKUMA ALERT,” the loudspeakers announced, and he quickly turned off his cellphone to put it in his pocket. “WE ASK ALL VISITORS TO KINDLY EVACUATE THE PALACE VERY CALMLY.”

“Claws Out,” Adrien said as soon as he was somewhere out of camera sight, transforming into his superhero alter ego.

“REPEAT, PLEASE EVACUATE THE PALACE CALMLY.”

That was what he was doing, evacuating as he calmly whistled on his way out.

He hoped that the Gorilla would evacuate instead of just searching for him...

----

Marigold had been lucky when Kagami suggested splitting up, to divide the Akuma's attention: it had allowed her to sneak away to transform, and then she had tracked Kagami again, so she could protect her.

“I see you two made a new friend for Friendship Day, Honeybee!”

She turned to see Chat Noir, smiling at them both, and Marigold was thankful for the levity, even if it was not the time.

“More like she's jealous of Kagami's friendships!” she replied. “She captured a civilian trying to get her!”

That left Chat Noir worried: civilians being taken hostage by the Akumas was not fun, because you had to be careful when you fought them.

“Would Venom work on an Akuma that big?” Chat Noir asked, worried.

“Probably,” she replied, remembering how it worked on Animan when he turned into a dinosaur, “but then we wouldn't be able to get the hostage out until Scarlet Lady gets here.”

“Hm...”

Given Scarlet's penchant for not showing until the eleventh hour, it was better if they found a way to save the hostage.

“We'll probably need some help,” Chat Noir suggested. “One of us should go and one should stay with Kagami–”

The girl promptly hugged Marigold's arm, leaving both heroes bemused.

“Uh, guess I'll get help then,” Chat Noir said, stunned.

----

Adrien entered the parlor as quick as he could, not forgetting to take his shoes off.

“Hello, Master,” he greeted.

“Adrien! You got away from the competition,” Master Fu noted as he drank from his teacup.

“Heh, yeah,” Adrien agreed. “Anyway Scar's her typical no show.”

“Ah,” Master Fu said, quickly opening the Miraculous Box, having expected this to happen. “Adrien Agreste, pick an ally you can trust, blah, blah, blah, greater good, you've heard it all before.”

Adrien gave a small snort as he checked the options. The Fox and Turtle were out, so was the Snake, and the Mouse – he held hope that Marinette might be able to pick it again at some point – but then he saw one that he realized would be a good fit.

“Wind, water, lightning, perfect!” he exclaimed, picking up the Dragon. Then he looked closer. “Is this too obvious for her?”

Plagg just shrugged.

----

Marigold jumped on top of the chimney while carrying Kagami in her arms, and kept rushing – Ikari Gozen was getting closer, and she needed to buy time until the reinforcemens arrived.

“We just gotta hang in there until Chat Noir gets back (or the off chance Scarlet Lady shows up)!”

Then, she looked down at Kagami... who was smiling a bit too much for someone who was being the target of an Akuma.

“No rush,” the Japanese girl said.

… was that a blush?

----

Chat Noir gracefully landed next to his partners for the day, box secure in his hand, and gave a short bow to them.

“Ladies~” he greeted.

“Chat Noir!” Marigold greeted back. “Have you got something for our friend?”

“You bet!”

“Huh?” Kagami said, clearly confused.

It was time to undo that confusion.

“Kagami Tsurugi, this is the Dragon Miraculous,” he said as he offered the box with the choker. “With it, you'll help me and Marigold save your mother. When we're done, you'll return the Miraculous to me. Can we trust you?”

“Yes,” Kagami replied, gently picking the box from his hand. “I am grateful you recognize me as the perfect candidate.”

“Um...” he mumbled, not quite believing the fact that Kagami was preening. And Marigold seemed to be about to burst out laughing.

----

As she opened the box, she covered her eyes in reflex from the burst of light in front of her.

“Ah–!”

“Greetings, young lady, and good day to you,” a voice that sounded old and wise said. “Fear not, I am Longg, the Dragon Kwami.”

As she looked up, she saw a creature floating in front of her. About the size of her hand, mostly red and black with eight horns around his head, golden eyes, two long whiskers, two spikes on its (her? The voice did sound female) back, and a long tail. It (she?) looked like a dragon of Chinese mythology.

But, still...

“A what?” The term was unfamiliar.

“A kwa-mi,” the creature – Longg – repeated. “Allow me to tell you the many feats that a magic being like myself will help you accomplish by saying 'Longg, Bring the Storm'.”

She picked the choker and carefully put it aoround her neck, feeling it a bit constraining, but then it suddenly fit her just fine. This was magical, right?

“Using the element of your choosing – wind, water, or lightning – you can defeat Ikari Gozen with panache–”

“Uhuh,” she interrupted. She had realized that she could be a superhero like Marigold (and Chat Noir). And also the fact that she could finally get back a bit at her mother without fearing reprisal. So, perhaps one might forgive her for being a tad too enthusiastic about it all. “Longg, Bring the Storm!”

“Wait, I'm not doooo–” Longg said, before he was absorbed into the choker.

Her clothes transformed into a red jumpsuit with black accents, with the most impressive part being the dragon tail image on her torso. She could feel the horns that were now growing on the back of her head, and the half-mask covering everything from her cheeks up, save for her nose. And, as she moved, she felt the sheathe on her lower back, with the pommel in perfect reach of her left hand.

She smiled.

“Looking good!” Chat Noir said, smiling.

“What do we call you?” Marigold asked, and she thought on it. It was the same conversation she had with Marinette earlier, but now it was important. She was a dragon. A dragon's name had to evoke power.

Well, if the kwami's name sounded like the word for dragon in Chinese... why couldn't she do the same?

“Let's go with Ryūko,” she said. And, somehow, it felt like the name just fit her.

----

Happy that Kagami (or, rather, Ryūko) was good and fit with her new circumstances, Marigold decided to check at the other side of the wall, to see if she could find either the Akuma or some idea of how to deal with it.

“Still no sign of Scar,” Chat Noir commented.

“'Scar'?” Ryūko asked, shocked. “You call your leader Scar?”

“Gross, Scar's not the leader. She's a mascot at best.”

There was no one on the street, thankfully, but then a sign caught her attention. A cosmetics shop, one she had gone to a couple of times, was having a sale on bath bombs.

Ryūko should be able to do something with water, right?

That was it!

“Guys, I have a plan!” she announced. “I need you to distract Ikari Gozen!”

“HEHEHEH!”

Turning to her left, she saw Ryūko sporting a very unusual face, the kind that came out in slasher movies. A bit like her own, too.

“Eager, aren't you?”

----

Ryūko quickly ran towards Ikari Gozen, with her sword at the ready, followed by Chat Noir, while Marigold went to get the supplies they would need to succeed.

Then she was there, next to the Akuma, and she attacked, using all the skills she had learned in the art of fighting, but Ikari Gozen, in spite of her size, was agile enough to parry and attempt to counter, which was no easy feat: her mother's akumatization was clearly not impeding her own skills.

But it was enough to keep her distracted from Marigold, and she knew it. But, still, she had questions to make.

“You push Kagami to be strong willed yet shelter her from having friends?” she asked, laying bare her mother's hypocrisy.

“You know nothing! She doesn't need friends!” Ikari Gozen shouted as she slashed the air. “Friends only betray you, abandon you! Like mine did when I went blind!

She gasped. Given how her mother behaved, she had supposed she simply didn't want to have friends... but to learn that she had been left behind?

“STOP HAVING YOUR SOAP OPERA MOMENT AND GET ME OUT!”

Oh, right, the hostage. As irritating as Bourgeois was, they still had to rescue her.

“Ryūko! Now!”

Perfect! Now it was time to trick the Akuma! She jumped up and prepared her sword for a slash.

“You should have faith in your daughter to have her choices!” she shouted, and as expected, Ikari Gozen grabbed her.

“I've had enough of your opinions!” the Akuma shouted, and she closed her eyes. This was not going to be pretty. “OOOOOOOOM–”

And down the gullet she went... into something that resembled her mother's town car. Well, at least she knew what had happened.

“Hahaha!” Bourgeois laughed. “What a loser, getting caught–”

As if to mock the other girl for her hypocrisy, the box Marigold had procured entered and fell on top of Bourgeois' head.

“OW!”

“Heh,” she chuckled as she moved to grab the box.

“Bath bombs?” Bourgeois asked as she saw the box's contents.

“You're going to want to hold your breath,” Ryūko warned.

“What–?”

“Water Dragon!”

“Hey, wai–!”

This was not going to be pretty either.

----

Suddenly, Chat Noir and Marigold saw water and soap suds coming out from the seams that formed Ikari Gozen's armor, and Ikari Gozen's face twisted to a form that looked like something had really not sat well in her stomach.

“Ugh, urgh,” she mumbled, “I'm going to–”

The two averted their eyes just in time.

“BLARGH!”

Yikes. Even if they knew it was just Ryūko in water form with the result of the bath bombs, it was still disgusting.

“WAAAAAH! I HATE YOU, PUKE-KO!”

Well, at least Chloé was out of there. Marigold felt sorrier for Ryūko, who had had to share space with her, but she paid no mind as her classmate ran out of the way. With the Akuma incapacitated by her stomach's sudden rebellion, she summoned her power.

“Venom!”

One touch, and the Akuma was finally paralyzed.

But the fight wasn't done yet.

“We can't release her without the Ladybug,” Chat Noir said, and Ryūko growled in annoyance.

“Where is Scarlet Lady?!”

Someone landed next to them, and they saw it was the devil in red with black polka dots. She was drenched in water and smelling like bath bombs. She had likely been in the bath or something when the call got out.

“Worry not, my poor, lost sidekicks, I have arrived–”

He would rather save himself all the irritation of hearing Scar speaking, and quickly jumped to push her ahead, while the angered Dragon Heroine pulled from her arm.

“Hurry up, we need the Cure!” he shouted.

“HEY!” Scar shouted.

Nobody cared.

----

One Miraculous Cure later, Ryūko approached her mother, who was recovering now from her akumatization, and holding onto the car she had fused with.

“What happened to me? Where's Kagami?” she asked, and Ryūko smiled a bit. While the woman didn't show it much... perhaps she did love her daughter? She put her arms over the one holding her cane.

“Your daughter is safe, Madame. She'll be here soon,” she told her, and her mother nodded in quiet thanks. She turned towards her heroes, who were holding a fist in the air, with a space left for her.

She smiled wider. She had seen the duo doing this after defeating Akumas... and they were willing to allow her to join them. She held her fist next to theirs.

“BIEN JOUÉ!” they shouted in unison.

“Rest assured, everyone, I got Chloé Bourgeois to safety~”

“Who are you?” Tomoe Tsurugi asked, showing that, much like the rest of the world, nobody cared about Scarlet Lady.

----

With everything fixed and back into place, Ryūko followed Chat Noir to a secluded place, where she undid the transformation and took off the choker.

“Excellent work!” Chat Noir praised her, and she nodded.

“Well, you gave me the Miraculous with a sword,” Kagami replied. “It was practically made for me.”

Longg floated around before stopping, giving her back to Kagami.

“Such rudeness to cut me off when I'm speaking!” the Dragon Kwami declared. “There's wisdom in patience, you know! Youths these days.”

“M–My apologies,” Kagami said, bowing respectfully to the divine being. “Please forgive me, Kami-sama.”

Longg perked up, and quickly turned around to begin patting Kagami in the head, which she took with a smile.

“There is also wisdom in admitting fault, so this Dragon God will forgive you,” Longg replied.

Chat Noir just rolled his eyes.

----

The car was exactly where it had reappeared after the fight, and Kagami knew that it was because her mother was waiting for her. And, as she approached, she saw her, sitting in her usual place, looking as stern as always.

“Okaa-san, I'm sorry I wasn't truthful. But I'm not sorry for making friends,” she said.

“Friends can be disappointing–”

“I know,” she interrupted. “Maybe these friendships won't last forever. But I know I won't regret making the choices I did. Because you taught me to never second guess myself.”

“'GAMI!!”

Before she could react, her buddy had jumped on her back, put legs around her waist, and hugged her like a koala hugging an eucaliptus.

“M–Marinette!” she shouted in shock.

“I'm so glad you're safe!” Marinette replied, before she turned to look at the car. “Oh, hello, Madame!”

She heard her mother sigh.

“Be home by dinner,” Tomoe Tsurugi said, and the car door gently closed before the car drove away towards her home.

----

In the time they had spent dealing with the Akuma, the two of them got a message warning that the contest had ended. Kagami received a message, and semi-dragged Marinette to meet two of her school friends.

“Hey guys!” Ondine greeted with a wave and a smile. Next to her was a girl with two large ribbon-infused hairbuns, heart-shaped earrings and plaster over her nose. “This is Freddy!”

“Hey,” the other girl said, and Marinette saluted with a smile.

“I'm glad you avoided the Akuma,” Kagami said, and their phones vibrated.

“Looks like we lost,” Freddy said, seeing Adrien in the photo accompanied by the two winners, Aurore, Mireille, and his bodyguard (who was giving Aurore bunny ears).

“Oh, that's Alya!” Marinette said, happily. The other winner was a boy she didn't know, but he appeared to be nice, so she considered that a success. “Mission: stop a total weirdo creep from meeting Adrien,”

“ACCOMPLISHED!” she said along with Kagami.

“You guys know the game has an age limite, right?” Freddy pointed out.

“EH?”

----

That night, Paris' two heroes went on their usual night patrols, and they were now sitting in one of their favorite spots, which had a great view of the Eiffel Tower.

And now, their discussion had turned to their newest temporary partner.

“The Dragon's powers are really cool!” Chat Noir said.

“Yeah! Can you believe you can use three powers before the timer starts?!” Marigold replied.

“I call hax! How is that fair?! Imagine three shots of Venom!”

“Or three times the Cataclysm.” Marigold leaned back. “Well, technically the Ladybug has two powers – Lucky Charm and the Miracle Cure. It's just easy to forget since one leads into the other.”

Silence fell around them, as they considered the implications.

“You think maybe we have multiple powers?” Chat Noir asked.

“Maybe we should ask Master Fu...”

----

Crocoduel

@zoe-oneesama:

* Tomoe Tsurugi: You must be like the woman who ignored society's rules and her father's demands to become an independent warrior!

* Also Tomoe Tsurugi: How dare you ignore society's rules and MY demands and attempt to become an independent person!

Seriously, hypocrisy knows no bounds.

That's 466 pages, 186142 words, 1003366 characters

#scarlet lady the novel #fanfiction #milarqui #long post #marinette dupain cheng #marigold #adrien agreste #chat noir #kagami tsurugi #ryuuko #Ikari gozen

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady: Desperada

Directory | Silencer

Wishing to relax after the absolute mess that was dealing with Bob Roth the previous day, the girls had agreed to join Kitty Section at the Liberty and just enjoy the afternoon, listening to the group practice for their future record.

For Marinette, though...

“Orange juice, Luka?”

“Thanks, Ma–Ma–Marinette.”

… it was just another stressful thing on top of all previous stress.

Because, after Luka's confession, she just didn't know what to do.

“Eheheh!” she tried to laugh, her cheeks burning up at how close Luka was. “You're really hot–” SHUT UP! “uh, tall!–” SHUT UP! “uh talented! How long have you been playing?”

Luka gave a soft laugh.

“Since I was in diapers,” he replied, taking off his guitar and carefully hanging its strip over Marinette's shoulder. “Wanna try?”

“Oh! S–Sure! Heehee!” she stammered, as Luka gently grabbed her left hand.

“Put this hand here...”

“H–Here?”

----

The feeling of being a third wheel was mighty amongst the girls as they saw Luka giving Marinette a too close lesson on guitar playing – and the awkwardness peaked as the last people meant for this encounter entered the room.

“Hey, guys!” Adrien said as he put his bag on the floor.

“Adrien, Kagami!” Mylène exclaimed, part in shock, part in happiness.

“Your parents let you out?” Alix asked, grinning.

For all answer, Adrien turned to his partner, and it was obvious they were both struggling not to break down laughing.

“Wait, you mean this isn't fencing practice?!” Adrien asked, acting shocked at the 'sudden twist'. “Oh no, Kagami, we messed up the address!”

“Dear me, it would seem so!” Kagami replied, holding her face in fake distress.

“Pft,” Alix snorted, rolling her eyes, “okay, guys.”

Then Adrien saw Luka's hands-on lesson to the blushing Marinette, and suddenly the sunshine boy was in the middle of an eclipse.

“What's going on there?” he said in a deceitfully tranquil tone, while Kagami looked at him as if he were a bomb about to explode.

“That's what we wanna know!” Alya exclaimed.

“We're not co-captain anymore, get lost!”

Everyone looked away at the sound of Anarka Couffaine shouting, shocked – mostly because everyone who knew her had barely heard her this angry.

“But we played so perfectly together!” a man said. A voice everyone found very familiar.

“What–?” Kagami said, shocked.

“Up deck!” Juleka pointed out.

“Let's go!” Alix added, and everyone ran for the door.

Well, not everyone – because Marinette collapsed on the closest couch, mentally exhausted, and Adrien stayed behind to make sure his classmate-slash-friend-slash-crush was alright.

“UGHHH~” Marinette groaned, feeling like her face was ready to be used for cooking.

“Marinette? What's wrong?” Adrien asked with worry.

“Oh, Adrien. Luka confessed to me and I... I...”

Adrien felt his eye involuntarily twitching at the idea of someone else confessing to the girl he liked, but held on her knee-jerk reaction as Marinette's face turned devastated.

“I'm trying so hard to be normal and it's! Not! WORKING!”

“Oh, boy,” he mumbled as Marinette began to cry, and he sat next to her as she covered her crying face.

“I'm not trying to date Luka but I'm not trying to ruin things with Luka and I keep overthinking everything and I don't know what to do!”

Now knowing that Marinette was really in a bind, he knew he had to park his feelings aside and be the friend she needed, so he put a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed.

“Just... talk to Luka,” he suggested.

“Talk?” she asked, rising her face.

“Tell him what you told me. Luka's not the kind of guy to hold it against you.”

“True,” Marinette admitted, a couple of tears still on the corner of her blue eyes.

“More than anything, he'll appreciate your honesty.”

“Yeah...” She sniffed, and gave him a trembling smile. “Thanks, Adrien.”

----

After recovering from her cry spell, the two of them ran outside, where they found Mme. Couffaine in a screaming match with...

“I'm no one's back up plan, skipper!”

“It's not like that! You're the only one I want to play with, Nanarky!”

“Jagged Stone?” Marinette said, a bit shocked.

“'Nanarky'?!” Mylène asked, shocked that their favorite singer was speaking so casually with their host – and that said host was answering in kind.

“You don't fool me, pirate! I bet you threw your guitarist overboard! Again!”

“Nooooooo!” Jagged Stone said, unconvincingly. “I didn't, I swear! She, uh, sailed away!”

“LIE BETTER!” Mme. Couffaine replied, clearly angry.

Jagged looked over the people on the Liberty, and smiled.

“Marinette! My awesome designer!” he cried out. “Do you play guitar?”

“Uh, no–” she timidly replied, and Jagged shook his head.

“Bummer. Do you know one? Like one in a band on a houseboat with blue hair?”

“Uh, yeah! Exactly that!” Marinette replied, turning to Luka with a smile. “Wow, so specific!”

“You rock, Marinette!” Jagged said, pointing at Luka. “So, you up for it little dude–”

“Jagged Stone! I finally found you you hack!”

Of course, there was only one person in the world that could have uttered those words.

“Chloé?!” Adrien said, shocked.

“HACK?!” Jagged Stone fired, annoyed.

“I demand reimbursement for the shoes your stupid lizard ate!”

“Ugh,” he said, but he kinda acknowledged she was right, “send the bill to Bob Roth. Stop hounding me.”

“HEY.” Everyone turned to see someone else had arrived on scene, and was standing at the prow of the Liberty. “Jagged Stone is my target.”

“What?!” Chloé yelled at being ignored, but Adrien was more aware of the situation.

“Akuma!”

“Vivica?” Jagged asked, surprised.

“There ain't no more 'Vivica',” the Akuma said. “There's only Desperada now! You fire me and try to replace me with a school kid?!”

“Vivica, you're only two years older than him,” Jagged said.

Luka and Juleka looked at each other, feeling awkward and hoping no one noticed that Jagged shouldn't have known Luka's age.

“Back off my kids, ship rat!” Anarka furiously shouted at Desperada, who gave a smirk.

“Then I'll get you first!” she said, and strummed her guitar – and Anarka, after being hit by a projectile, disappeared in a cloud of golden smoke, as a sticker with her face appeared on the guitar.

“Ahh!” Mylène screamed in fright.

“Desperada always hits her targets,” the Akuma declared, and she started to pluck her guitar again.

“Ah–!”

“No–!”

Juleka and Rose, despite the former's attempt to push her out of the way, were soon taken out as well, while Marinette angrily glared at the Akuma before ducking away.

And Adrien, who could tell who was the Akuma's target right now, grabbed Luka's hand.

“Quick, let's get outta here!” he said, pulling his friend-slash-romantic rival out of the way.

----

As soon as she found a safe place, Marinette took a breather while Pollen came out of her bag.

“It's that time again, My Queen!” the Bee Kwami declared, while Marinette kept glaring at the Akuma.

“Does Hawkmoth never sleep?!”

----

“C'mon, Chloé, you gotta transform,” Tikki tiredly said.

“This one looks really annoying,” Chloé replied. “But I have to avenge my shoes, so–”

Tikki rolled her eyes. Figures that that would be her goal.

----

“You probably got fired over your stupid hair!” Scarlet Lady shouted, and she began to run to a side as Desperada fired her musical bullets, which all hit the ground right next to her feet.

“GRRR!” the Akuma growled over her failed attack. But then another guitar started to sound, and Desperada turned to the source. “Another guitarist?!”

She started to shoot at him, while he remained in place, making his solo.

“LUKA!”

Before Desperada realized it, a large rope twisted around her waist.

“AH!”

“HYAAAAAAAH!” Marigold mightily yelled, and pulling from the rope she tossed the Akuma far away enough that none of those present could see her. With danger temporarily out of the way, she smiled at the boys and waved them towards what she had found. “Down here, quick!”

“Ew, the sewers?!” Scarlet Lady said with a disgusted tone, but Marigold paid her no mind and pulled the manhole cover before forcing the Ladybug heroine in.

All while Luka turned to Adrien.

“Did Marigold just kill Desperada?” he asked, shocked, and Adrien shrugged, before they followed Marigold inside. As soon as they closed the cover, the two boys started to huff from running.

“That was very reckless, but very brave,” Marigold encouraged them, ignoring Scarlet Lady as she skipped around in disgust. “Thanks.”

“N–No problem,” Luka replied between huffs, as he recovered his breath.

“You guys should hide while we find Chat Noir,” she suggested, immediately grabbing Scarlet Lady by the face before she could do what Marigold knew she would do.

“Nooo!” Scarlet Lady whined as she tried to reach out to them.

“Sure thing, Marigold,” Luka said, and both of them went off, eager to be away from the Ladybug heroine.

----

As soon as he got Luka into a closet, Adrien started to do a run around to find a different passageway that would lead to where Marigold and Scar were waiting.

“Chat got your tongue? Leave a message!” he heard his own voice say.

“Dammit, where are you?” Scar complained; she must have called him to his baton-phone.

Time to hero, he thought.

“Plagg, Claws Out!” Soon, he was once more clad in leather. “I'm here!”

As he turned the corner, Marigold and Scar looked at him.

“Chat Noir!” the former said.

“Why are you sweating?” the latter asked, disgusted.

He laughed. He wasn't going to tell them he had ran all the way around to avoid being tracked.

----

As soon as she recovered from being flung around, Desperada ran back to where she had found that boy, but by then there was no one around, as they had either taken refuge elsewhere or just hid.

“I'll find that brat guitarist sooner or later, you bugs!” Desperada yelled into the empty air.

----

Good thing I'm not claustrophobic, Luka thought from within the locker Adrien had told him to go into. There was literally nothing for him to do right now.

Perhaps he could think of a song to make for Marinette...

----

With no ideas to pull from, Scar used Lucky Charm, which took the form of a bronze dish.

Or, rather...

“A gong?” Marigold realized.

“You know what that means, Goldie!” he said, winking at her.

“You're going to get another Miraculous aren't you?!” Scar said, and Chat Noir looked at her, surprised that she had actually made the connection. “You are going to give whatever-it-is–”

“The Snake, probably,” Chat Noir suggested.

“– to my Adrien!” Scar continued. Chat Noir held the instinct to tell her that he wasn't hers, but instead chose to help avoid the potential problem.

“Wuh – Agreste? I don't think–”

“Actually...” Marigold said, blushing, “I think Adrien would make a good hero.”

Stunned at Marigold's words (and feeling a bit of a flutter in his heart) Chat Noir looked down with burning cheeks.

“... I'll find him while Scar recharges and you fetch the Miraculous,” he conceded.

“YAY!” Marigold cheered.

Splitting up to do their parts, Chat Noir found a place he was certain he wouldn't be seen in and detransformed.

“Claws In.”

“This'll never work,” Plagg warned him as he reappeared.

“You know that, I know that, but do they know that...?” Adrien asked.

“You're just soft because your honeybug recommended you,” Plagg deadpanned.

“Shush. Why're you worried, Plagg? For you it'll be like no time at all,” Adrien replied with a chuckle.

“I guess.” Plagg didn't look excited.

“And this'll get Adrien Agreste off the Hero roster.”

Plagg tilted his head in askance.

“Uh, how?” he asked, and Adrien gave a smirk that wouldn't be out of place in a cat's face.

“By being such a nuisance I never get called on again.”

Plagg felt a sweatdrop at the back of his head. Which was weird, because he didn't sweat...

----

We did all agree on Adrien...

But Luka distracted Desperada...

But Adrien saved Luka...

But Luka –

“Marinette? The Akuma?”

Marinette shook herself off. Oh, right, she was still at Master Fu's parlor.

“R-Right! Thank you, Master!”

----

“It's that it?” Scarlet asked as soon as she arrived with the Miraculous.

“Yeah. Where's Chat Noir and Adrien?”

“Here! I'm here!” Adrien said, and Marigold quickly put her hand exactly where it had to be.

“Mon Prince~” Scarlet said, attempting to grab Adrien in a hug, only for Marigold's hand to hold her in place, well away from the boy.

“Adrien!” the Bee Heroine exclaimed, ignoring the irritant behind her. “Where's Chat Noir?”

“Oh, uh, he had to check on the civilian thing he ditched,” Adrien replied. “But he said you needed me?”

“Yes!” Marigold said, offering the box. “Adrien Agreste, this is the Snake Miraculous, which grants the power of Second Chance. You will use it for the greater good–”

“Let me give it to him, Marimold!” Scarlet yelled.

“Omigod, let me finish!” she replied with irritation as she struggled to keep her away from Adrien, who was now awkwardly waiting.

----

Alright, time to start faking this, he thought, and he opened the box. With a flash of light, the Snake Kwami of Intuition appeared.

“Oh, woooooow,” he said, trying to look like he had never seen something similar.

“Greetings,” the Kwami said, “my name is Sass, and...”

“Are you, like, some kind of genie?” he asked, playing dumb, but Sass' judging look told him that the Kwami wasn't falling for it.

“... I am a Kwami,” Sass replied, unimpressed. As he put on the Ouroboros bracelet, he noticed Plagg hiding at the wall, and he really looked unhappy.

Sorry.

“Sass, the transformation phrase, please,” Marigold kindly asked, and Sass sighed.

“Guess we're doing this. Right. Just say, Sass...”

“Scales Slither!”

He quickly noticed the difference as he transformed: while the feeling of leather was similar, it wasn't the smooth touch of his Chat Noir suit, but slightly rough, much like a snake's scales. The full black was partially replaced by aquamarine. The mask covered more of his face, and his hair felt wilder than normal. As the transformation finished, a name came to mind.

“Call me Aspik,” he told Marigold. “I won't let you down, my Queen!”

“Ha! I know,” Marigold replied, smiling.

“Adrien~ I believed in you first!” Scar said, but he scoffed.

“I don't care.”

Finding the ladder going up, Scar quickly went up first, while Marigold looked back at him.

“If anything goes wrong, Second Chance will let you go back to the time you used it.”

“Got it,” Aspik nodded. “Second Chance.”

As Scar left, she made a sigh.

“Finally out,” she said. “Where is she?”

She quickly got her answer, as a musical projectile hit her in the back.

“Ah–”

“Oh no!” Marigold exclaimed.

“Second Chance!” Aspik said, grinning at the sight of Scar being in distress. And, as he reappeared in a minute before... he realized something.

Every time he had wanted to do something to Scar, he had held back because he knew he would have to deal with the consequences.

But, here and now?

He could do something... and then use Second Chance to undo it.

And he could do it... as many times as he wanted.

It was a bit of a jerk move, but, honestly, after dealing with Scar for months, he felt he had the right be a bit of a jerk.

Time to have some fun!

----

He tripped her.

“Ah–!”

She got hit by Desperada.

“Second Chance!”

----

He shoved her.

“Wuh–!”

She got hit by Desperada.

“Second Chance!”

----

He used her as a shield.

“Ad–!”

She got hit by Desperada.

“Second Chance!”

----

“Aspik...?” Marigold asked, shocked.

Alright, perhaps this one was too hard.

Who cared?

“Don't worry. You won't remember this. Second Chance!”

----

"Hey, Scar, guess what, I'm not just Adrien Agreste, I'm also Chat Noir, your 'sidekick'!"

Scar's face suddenly twisted into horror as the two images clashed against each other.

"YESSS, THAT'S THE FACE I WANTED! SECOND CHANCE!"

----

“If anything goes wrong, Second Chance will–”

“Sass, Scales Rest.”

Marigold gave a gasp of surprise as Adrien detransformed.

“I'm so sorry, Marigold,” Adrien apologized, returning the box with the bracelet. “It didn't work, no matter how hard I try. I just... can't protect you two.”

“No! We can try again!” she said, but he shook his head.

“Um–! N–No, I've been trying! Like, 25,913 times!”

“Oh no!” It must have been tough for Adrien, trying for so long without success! “Adrien, I'm so sorry for putting you through that!”

“I–It's okay.”

“We'll figure things out,” she encouraged. “Don't take it to heart, okay? We chose you for a reason, don't forget that!”

“U-huh,” Adrien replied, but he clearly was feeling guilty over what had happened.

----

“So what do we do now?” Scarlet asked, clearly irritated that she wouldn't get her way.

“Relax. I know just who to go to,” Marigold replied.

“Marigold?”

The Bee heroine turned to the voice.

“Luka! Right on time!”

“I was looking for Adrien, have you seen him?” Luka asked, worried.

“Yeah, he's right–”

And she turned to where Adrien was.

Or where he should have been.

Because now there was a vacuum in the form of her friend.

“Huh?! Where'd he go?!”

“He was right here!” Scarlet wailed.

“Guys!”

And, right on time, Chat Noir returned from whatever thing he had been doing as a civilian.

“Chat Noir!”

“Why are you sweating again?!”

“So–So much running,” he puffed.

As much as she wished to check on Adrien, Marigold knew the Akuma remained the priority, so she turned to Luka, offering him the Miraculous.

“Luka Couffaine, this is the Snake Miraculous, which grants the power of Second Chance. You will use it for the greater good and then you'll return the Miraculous to me. Can I trust you?”

“Absolutely!” Luka replied, and gingerly picked the box and opened it – causing a flash. “Wow!”

“Ah, another one,” Sass said, and Luka was clearly confused.

“Huh–?”

“Greetings. I am Sass and I'll be your Kwami.”

“A 'Kwami'?” Luka asked, pronouncing the unfamiliar concept.

“Alas, we have no time for explanations,” Sass said. “All you need to say is, 'Sass...'”

----

“Scales Slither!”

----

“Looks like Desperada is sniping from the Eiffel Tower,” the newly minted Viperion said after a quick look.

“Let's take away her vantage point with Chat Noir's Cataclysm!” Marigold suggested.

“And how are we supposed to find the Eiffel Tower from here?” Scarlet Lady pointed out, to which Marigold pointed at a sign. “Oh!”

Eiffel Tower zone: Wear a hard hat in case of Akuma MANAGEMENT

“Yeah,” Chat Noir said, slightly embarrassed.

“Hm,” Viperion hummed, giving an amused smirk at Marigold. “You guys destroy the Eiffel Tower so often it's a work hazard zone.”

Marigold grumbled, whistling away her awkwardness.

“I mean, technically the Akuma destroys it, not us...”

And, as if to contradict her...

“Cataclysm!”

----

The heroes jumped into action, ready to stop the Akuma... but they ran into their own problems.

Like Scarlet Lady tripping and smacking Chat Noir, leaving them open to Desperada's attack.

“Second Chance!”

----

Or Scarlet Lady setting herself up for getting hit by Desperada's weapon.

“Second Chance.”

----

Or Scarlet Lady just bantering with the Akuma and getting distracted enough that she got hit. Again.

“Second Chance...”

----

“Could you maybe chill the FUCK out?!” Viperion asked, irritated with Scarlet Lady... who didn't know what was going on.

----

As Desperada tried to recover her wits, she saw Viperion playing his harp, sticking his tongue at her.

“YOU–!”

“You're OPEN~” Marigold declared as she entangled Desperada's left arm with her top.

“AH!”

“You're surrounded~” Chat Noir said, as Viperion grappled her other arm, forcing Desperada to her knees.

“AGH!”

“You're done~” Viperion finished, as Scarlet Lady struck the Akumatized guitar with her yo-yo, breaking it and freeing both everyone that had been trapped and the butterfly.

“AGHHHH!”

----

With Vivica now restored, and the air filled with ladybugs, the heroes split their tasks.

“I'll escort Mlle. to the houseboat while you return the Snake,” Chat Noir said, leaning on his baton while Vivica smiled at him.

“Sure,” Marigold agreed. “Let's go, Viperion!”

“Hey!” Scarlet yelled. “I'm coming too! Show me where you get the Miraculouses, Bumbling Bee!”

Marigold smirked.

“Sure.” And she opened the manhole cover. “You just have to come down here with us.”

“EWWW! Oh, look at that, timer's going off, byeeee!”

And Scarlet ran away as if she had a bird flying to eat her.

Marigold and Viperion had a bit of a laugh before the latter detransformed, and Luka returned the Miraculous.

“You were great, Luka,” Marigold praised him.

“We make a good team,” Luka replied. “Thanks for not actually taking me to the sewers.”

“I agree. Most new sssnakes have to use Sssecond Chance many more times or ssselfishly,” Sass said, flying next to Luka. “You're certainly a bright, caring young man. A perfect snake!”

Luka blushed and looked aside.

“Aw, geez.”

“You're right...” Marigold said, causing Luka to blush even harder.

“Marigold, you too?!”

----

Back at the houseboat, when confronted with the young guitarist, Jagged Stone knew he had to fix his mistake.

“Sorry, Vivica. Eating my cereal and drinking Fang's milk wasn't a good enough reason to fire you,” he apologized. “You can come back if you want, I'd love to play with you.”

“Me too!” Vivica cheered. “I'm in, Jagged!”

The girl left, happily humming a song as Jagged Stone and Anarka Couffaine looked at her fondly... before the latter looked at him with an ominous glare.

“You fired her on purpose to play with our kids, didn't you.”

Just like that. A statement of fact.

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

Just like that. A terrible deflection.

----

“Orange juice?”

Penny looked up from her tablet and saw Juleka holding two glasses of oh-so-inviting juice.

“Oh, thank you, Juleka,” Penny said as she picked one of the glasses, slowly sipping it and letting it help her relax: after the mess with Vivica and the Akumatization, that kind of thing really hit the spot.

“Maman and Papa think they're being slick, huh?” Juleka asked.

“Mhm,” she agreed, still drinking.

“Funny they think me and Luka don't know.”

“Yup, hilarious,” Penny replied, taking another sip.

“Well, at least we get a cool step-manager.”

The resulting spurt covered a good part of the deck in a sticky liquid that took a while to clean up.

----

Marinette took a deep breath and sat next to Luka. She really needed to follow on Adrien's suggestion.

“Luka?”

“Hm?”

“I'm sorry for being so weird lately.”

“Hey, I like Weird Marinette as much as Put-Together Marinette. And Passionate Marinette, Justice Marinette, Designer Marinette–”

“Okay, okay!” Marinette interrupted, struggling (and failing) to keep her cheeks from flushing.

“I'm just glad you didn't become Avoiding-Me Marinette,” Luka replied, smiling. “I didn't tell you how I feel to put pressure on you. I told you so you know how important you are to me.”

Marinette sighed in relief. It was just as Adrien had said.

“You're important to me too, Luka!” she said, smiling. “And I'll never run from being your friend!”

“Good,” he nodded, before his smile became a bit naughtier. “That said, I'm gonna compliment you a lot more to bring out Blushy Marinette.”

Oh.

Oh no.

“NoOOOOOO!” she wailed.

----

Adrien watched from afar as Marinette – completely red in the face – slapped the air next to a laughing Luka, and he sighed in relief.

“Whew. At least they're not dating,” he said out loud.

“This time.”

“Ah, Kagami!” Where did she come from?!

“Marinette can choose whomever she wants to date,” his friend said, “yet you don't make yourself a known option. Why?”

Oh. That. His life second's major irritant.

“There's an obstacle,” he said, crossing his arms. “A big, tall, annoying, dumb obstacle with bad fashion sense and is so selfish!”

Kagami patted his arm.

“I understand. Your father is a difficult person to overcome.”

“Eh?”

I meant Hawkmoth...

----

Ikari Gozen

@zoe-oneesama Adrien better make a move soon, lest he lose his chance with his Princess!

That's 453 pages, 180836 words, 974597 characters!

#scarlet lady the novel #fanfiction #milarqui #long post #marinette dupain cheng #marigold #adrien agreste #chat noir #aspik #luka couffaine #viperion #desperada

[milarqui]

Scarlet Lady: Silencer

Directory | Intermission 2

Tikki watched the encounter from one of the flowerpots nearby: since Chloé wasn't carrying a bag with her now, this was the best way she could stick close to Chloé in case there was an Akuma.

Unfortunately, that still meant having to deal with Chloé's issues and her father's. Such as today.

“How good to see you, Bob!” the Mayor said, greeting a rotund man with sunglasses over his bald head she knew was Bob Roth. “And little Xavier–”

“Ah! XY!” Oh yeah, this was the boy Chloé liked for some reason. His music was decent, but nothing to write home about.

“Of course!” M. Bourgeois apologized. “You remember my princess?”

“How could I forget,” Roth said neutrally. Not that Chloé seemed to care, as she was making eyes at the singer.

“Hello XY! I got you Daddy's best table!” Chloé said.

“Thanks, Clarice,” XY said in a bored tone.

“Uh, it's Chloé,” her wielder corrected, not that the singer seemed to care. “Daddy, don't forget to comp XY's meal!”

M. Bourgeois was clearly not as enthusiastic about the idea as his daughter.

“Ma chérie, that's a little–”

“Don't worry, you can still charge M. Bob.”

“Ha. Ha,” the older man laughed humorlessly.

“Thanks, Cassie.”

“Chloé.”

Once more, XY didn't seem to care much about the correction, as he pulled out a laptop.

“Alright, let's hear what you cop– uh, created,” M. Roth said, as XY pressed a key, and music came out of the laptop's speakers. Chloé sighed in pleasure, but Tikki sighed in boredom. All of that boy's music always sounded the same to her ears.

“It's so cool, like you~” Chloé said. Tikki wondered if her wielder had an ear defect or if she was just blinded by her celebrity crush.

“It's the same as last year,” M. Roth stated. Tikki would have said that it was the same as everything else XY had ever made, but she had to stay hidden.

“Eh?”

“Oh, so it is,” XY blandly replied. “My bad.”

“No big deal. As for visuals...”

“Visu-what?”

Tikki blinked.

“Don't worry, we'll use my usual method,” M. Roth continued. “If you're short on new ideas, borrow someone else's.”

As if the manager couldn't fall lower...

And yet, as the two men laughed, she could see Chloé smiling.

Given her attempt to steal Marinette's design for the hat contest, Tikki could tell Chloé just felt like at home amidst her fellow plagiarists.

----

“We're looking for visually and musically creative talent! You have two weeks to send in your videos!” Bob Roth, the well-known manager, announced in his usual hammy style, from Marinette's phone as she showed it to his friends.

“It's the perfect chance to showcase Kitty Section!” Marinette suggested.

“And your designs!” Luka added with a smile.

“You guys will make something awesome for sure!”

Everyone in the group turned to Adrien.

“Huh?” Rose mumbled in shock.

“Adrien, you're not joining us?” Marinette asked, worried.

“It goes against my dad's contract, but it's okay! It doesn't bother me!”

“Sure looks like it bothers you,” Marinette replied, taking in on her friend's tense smile and shadowed features.

----

During the next two weeks, both Kitty Section and worked hard in everything to be made. Rehearsals, choreography, fittings, brainstormings, designings... a lot of work went into a music video, particularly one that had to be thrown together in such a short time, but the five teenagers rose to the occasion with greatness.

It was during one of the rehearsals that Marinette had the perfect idea for the designs.

“You know I love unicorns~ And nothing makes me feel better~”

Quickly, she began to put her idea down to pencil and paper, letting her prodigious mind become awash in patterns and designs... unaware of the fond looks the group's lead guitarist was giving her.

“I see their faces everywhere I go~ Dreaming about them in the night!”

----

“I only want them to be mine, mine, mine!”

And, of course, when the final product was finished, they sent it to their unofficial fifth member.

“THEY LOOK SO GOOOOOD!” Adrien cried out, tears waterfalling out of his eyes as Plagg patted his cheek.

“There, there,” the Kwami said, having expected this reaction. It wasn't as if he hadn't complained about it for the past two weeks.

“No fair~!” Adrien kept crying, even as the video kept playing.

“I dream about them every night!”

----

SUBMISSION ACCEPTED

“We did it!” Kitty Section and their costume designer cheerfully shouted.

Unaware of what was about to happen.

----

One week later, Marinette was at the Liberty, talking with her friends, slightly worried.

“They're sure taking their time...” she noted: despite the promises that they would get an answer soon, M. Roth's company had yet to send an answer on the video contest.

“They must've gotten a lot of videos and haven't chosen a winner yet,” Luka pointed out, knowing how things could be in the musical field–

“DUDE, WHAT THE FRIG?!”

Everyone turned to Ivan, who had just rushed into the room, clearly angry about something. Which was way out of character for the boy.

“Ivan, what–?”

“That dweeb XY ripped us off! Look at the TV station!”

Juleka quickly picked up the remote and turned on the TV, which showed the tail end of a music video.

One that all five people in the room were intimately familiar with, given that they had worked on it for two weeks. Hell, the singer's costume was almost identical to what Marinette had made for them!

Only, there were a few differences: every Kitty Section reference on the stage had been replaced with an XY monogram.

“XY is here to debut his new sound and style!” the announcer said. “A true original! You've outdone yourself, XY!”

It was only five seconds of video, but it was more than enough to suddenly turn the interior of the room into an atmosphere that promised both sides of hell for the singer and his manager.

“Oh, you hack frauds are dead,” Marinette declared, clearly ready to press her point straight into Roth's face – along with her fist. And the same for everyone else: for all that they were the nicest people around, Bob Roth had really managed to press their buttons.

----

Arriving to the studio where XY was showing off his 'new video' was easy.

Entering, however, became harder.

“No solicitors,” one of the men-in-black at the entrance stated.

“Hey! That's our music and our costumes!” Marinette yelled, filled with righteous anger at how her and her friends had been robbed of their work.

“And your problem,” the man-in-black replied, uncaring.

Kitty Section looked at each other. It was time to plan.

----

“ROOOOOAR!”

“Ahh!”

“Eek!”

“HELP!”

Ivan had grabbed his video's costume and was now running after Rose and Juleka, who were screaming in 'fear' as they attempted to stay ahead of Ivan.

“Our friend is akumatized!”

“There's no heroes to save us!”

The men-in-black rolled their eyes.

“Kids, c'mon.”

“That's not going to work on us.”

“Do you think we're that stupid?”

Behind them, Luka and Marinette struggled not to burst out laughing at the oblivious men-in-black, as they took advantage of their distraction to sneak inside without them noticing.

Yes, you are that stupid, Marinette thought as they made their way in.

----

Finding where the thief was showing off their ideas was somewhat complicated, mostly because they couldn't just stop someone and ask, but a few minutes later they found the studio behind one large door.

“Your new single is way better than your last one! It's your best hit!” they heard Alec Cataldi exclaim as they opened the door.

“There he is!” Marinette whispered.

“How can they praise him when he messed up the music?!” Luka asked, disgusted, while Marinette took in the decorations that were such a rip-off from the ones she had made.

“And he made such a cheap costume and set up!” she realized, offended that XY would so mess with her work. “Isn't he rich?!”

“And where'd you get this look?” Alec continued asking, not realizing what the singer and his manager had actually done.

“Oh, my personal designer, uh...” he said, nodding at a girl standing next to him.

“Chloé Bourgeois.”

“Right, Cleo.”

“Of course,” Marinette growled. She had already tried to steal her work once, who else would it be? The two of them angrily pushed open the door and walked up to the hack and the thief, who were accompanied by the manager. Marinette pulled up her phone.

“M. Roth, I sent you this video on the group you're blatantly copying!” she shouted, queuing Kitty Section's music video.

“Oh, please, there's no similarity!” the manager blatantly lied.

“We were just... inspired!” XY had the guts to say.

“'Inspired'?!” Luka shouted, grabbing the cheap knock-off mask XY was wearing and ripping it off.

“OW!” Luka hadn't been gentle when he did it.

“You didn't create this mask, Marinette did!”

“Mon Chouka!” Chloé chimed in. “I worked so hard on that mask! Are you calling me a liar?”

Marinette felt like ripping off that false innocent face off her... face.

It looked like Luka would beat her off the punch.

“I'M NOT CALLING YOU A TRUTHER!”

----

“Fine, you won't admit the truth? Then I will! Right now, LIVE!” Marinette shouted, pointing at the manager in righteous anger – only for the manager to grab her by the arm.

“If you do that, I'll ruin you and your friend's careers by telling them you're the copycats!” Roth maliciously replied. “Who do you think they'll believe? A renowned producer, or some nobodies?”

“Wha–?!” Marinette exclaimed in shock.

“You won't make another costume ever again!” Roth threatened.

“Of course, I won't let that happen to you, mon Chouka!” Chloé said.

He liked to think he was a calm guy. But... that comment made something snap in him, and he turned to fire a glare that could have probably stripped the paint off the studio's walls.

“Uh, um...” Chloé babbled as she realized that maybe she had made a mistake. “W–What's that look for?! I did nothing wrong!”

She turned around, giving her back to him.

“I'm just saying, with your looks, you could go solo like XY! You just have to ditch your loser friends!”

Luka was so beyond rage, that when he saw the black butterfly fusing with the mask he had taken from XY, he didn't care.

“And forget about Dupain-Cheng, her designs are way too complicated! Do you know how hard it was to copy them?”

That did it. He put on the mask.

“And also–”

He flipped her off with both hands.

“Oh fuck.”

----

Luka quickly transformed, becoming covered in what looked like a motorcyclist body suit, complete with a helmet that only showed his eyes, and he reached out with his left hand.

“Uh, Luka, what are you–”

“Shhhh,” Luka – or, more like, Luka's Akuma – shushed, getting closer.

“Eek! Don't touch me!” Chloé shouted, and suddenly grabbed XY, who found himself with Luka's hand on his lips.

“Huh?” the singer mumbled.

“L–Luka?” Marinette said, shocked as she finally realized her friend had been Akumatized.

As Luka pulled away from XY, out of the singer's mouth came a wiggling blue jellyfish-like thing.

“Haha! I'm the best! I'm the richest! I'm famous!” the jellyfish said in XY's voice, before it was snatched by Luka.

“EEK! Akuma!” Chloé shrieked, before running off behind one door. “See you later, bye!”

Then Luka started to move his hand...

“Tsk, there goes my chance to silence her for good.”

… and somehow spoke with XY's voice.

“Luka, don't do this!” Marinette begged, approaching her friend. “It's not justice!”

“Marinette, I won't let anyone hurt you again,” Luka said, still with XY's voice. “You're an extraordinary girl. Clear as a music note, sincere as a melody.”

Marinette felt her cheeks starting to burn as she kept listening on Luka's words.

“You're the music that's been playing in my head since the day we met. I won't let anything happen to you.”

And, as Luka left, Marinette clenched her fists.

That was the most romantic thing I've ever heard... she thought, and you said it in XY's voice!

But, never mind that, she needed to hide and transform! So she quickly ran out the exit and into the first bathroom she could find.

“A love confession!” Pollen said as soon as she could come out of Marinette's bag. “I'm not surprised, my Queen commands attention!”

A blushing Marinette closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the matter at hand.

“P–Pollen, he's an Akuma! Who knows if he meant it!”

“Hm, I don't know~” Pollen sing-sang, clearly enjoying the moment... even if it was not the moment.

“G-Geez, Buzz On!”

----

“You can't escape me, Bob Roth!” the Akumatized Luka said, still using XY's voice. “And I'll force you to tell the truth on live TV!”

“Eek!” the manager yipped, sounding almost like a little girl. “Don't touch me! I have influence!”

“I can't let you do that, Luka!” Marigold shouted, landing between the Akuma and the manager.

“About time!” Roth complained – and before she could react, he grabbed her by the shoulders and used her as a shield. “Stop standing around and protect me!”

Marigold didn't even have the time to get loose before the Akuma touched her lips with his fingers – and another jellyfish, this one with the same colors as her costume, flew out of her mouth.

“Venom! Bien Joué! Just use your Lucky Charm already!” she heard herself shout before the Akuma stole her voice.

WHY?! she silently cried out. The cowardly idiot not only had ruined her plan to protect his ass, he had taken advantage of the distraction to run away, taking a lift at the other side of the building.

“Byeeee!” the thief sang as he disappeared – and, to pile on Marigold's misery, the other idiot showed up.

“Marimold!” Scarlet shouted. “Hurry up and sting him!”

I can't use Venom without my voice! she thought, and tried to convey it with signs.

“You can't talk?!” Scarlet realized, and then (like the Chloé clone she seemed to be) started to laugh at her. “Hahaha! What a loser! I can't believe you let your voice get stolen–!”

“An opening.”

That was Marigold's voice.

And Luka's fingers on a shocked Scarlet's mouth.

Idiot, Marigold thought. Knowing that she'd be unable to bring her full power ahead, she pulled out her top and swung it to grab a higher point. Scarlet followed her, and as they climbed away from the Akuma, Marigold picked her top-phone.

Text Chat Noir, she sent to Scarlet.

You text Chat Noir! Scarlet replied.

“You can run, bugs, but you can't escape me for too long,” Akumatized Luka said. “I'll find you and Bob Roth!”

----

At the entrance of the studio, Ivan, Rose, and Juleka were still waiting for Luka and Marinette to come out... and they were getting worried.

“I hope everything's going okay...” Rose said, and Ivan nodded.

“The commercial break's been going for a while too...” Juleka answered, checking her phone.

The gate to the studio opened all of a sudden, and a large man ran out, clearly in a hurry.

“Wuh?! Is that Bob Roth?!” Juleka asked, shocked.

“Why's he running?” Ivan wondered.

They got the answer when someone walked out, following Bob Roth, wearing a full body leather suit and a helmet covering everything but his eyes.

“Who is that?!” Ivan shouted.

“You don't think...” Juleka could recognize who had passed by them... or, rather, who it was supposed to be.

Rose was just stunned at the sight of the obvious Akuma.

And then the three members of Kitty Section looked at each other with dread.

“Maybe we shouldn't have let them go alone,” they agreed.

----

Back at home, Adrien was showing Nathalie his friends' music video, pointing out the blatant thievery Bob Roth and XY had carried out.

“It's in Père's best interests to know his business partner's unethical practices,” he argued, “like plagiarism.”

Much to his relief, Nathalie nodded. Clearly, she could see that this was a serious matter.

“I'll pass on your concerns,” she said, and firmly walked out of his room, carefully closing the door behind herself.

“That's all I can do, though I don't have much confidence,” he said as Plagg came out of his hideaway. “Unless there's a public backlash...”

However, Plagg wasn't looking at him, but at the window.

“Hey, look.”

Adrien looked, and saw something unexpected.

“Marigold?” he realized.

“Scarlet Lady?” Plagg asked as well.

“That means...! My friends might've been Akumatized! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Adrien cried out, brandishing the Miraculous Ring. “Plagg, Claws Out!”

----

“I am here!” he announced, and was pleased to see Scar jumping in shock. “I checked your texts about the Akuma, what's the plan?”

Marigold put up an awkward face, while Scar made a lot of gestures while attempting to say... something.

“Wait, you lost your voice?!” he realized, and began to laugh. “Hahaha! Truly we've been blessed!”

Then he approached Marigold and gave her a playful nudge with his elbow.

“Goldie, we don't need to rush with this Akuma, right?” he said, winking at her.

But then, instead of speaking up, she moved her lips and made a wordless noise, similar to the one Scar had made.

“Oh no, my poor Honeybee!” he exclaimed, realizing she had suffered the same as Scar, and he hugged his fellow heroine. “We'll get your voice back right away!”

He could feel Scar's anger and what was likely her flipping him off, but he paid her no mind. He pulled his baton-phone, knowing that it was the best way for her to 'speak' now.

“So you can't use your powers... and you can't detransform,” he said, summarizing the situation. “So we're fucked."

Marigold quickly tapped away at her top-phone, sending a message.

“You want to make Silencer say 'Venom' or 'Lucky Charm' with your stolen voices?” he asked, and she nodded. “How?”

She sent him another message, and he quickly read it.

“Huh?! Would that work?”

She smiled as she sent another message.

“Well, you're right that we don't have much choice.”

He got another message... but this time it was worthless. Namely, Scar making a selfie.

“Thanks for the contribution, Scar,” he sarcastically said.

----

The phone rang at the Hôtel de Ville, and a hand pressed a button.

“André, it's me, Bob!” the manager screamed. “I need the police!”

“No problem, Bob,” Silencer said, using the voice of André Bourgeois, who was now voiceless and struggling against the tight ropes holding him in place. “Just tell me where you are.”

----

As soon as the lift doors opened, Silencer reached out and grabbed Bob Roth.

“Thank you for escorting my prisoner, Officer Roger,” he said with Andre Bourgeois' voice, shocking the poor police lieutenant.

“Who–?” he asked, shocked at being tricked by an Akuma, but he was drowned out.

“EEEEK!” Roth said, once more screaming like a little girl as Silencer pulled him and threw him on a chair.

“I could easily take your voice, Bob Roth,” the Akuma said with Marigold's voice. “But what I want is for you to admit what you did!”

“NEVER!” the manager shouted.

“You think I can't make you?”

He switched to Scarlet Lady's voice.

“I can ruin you like you threatened to ruin Marinette!”

Then to Andre Bourgeois'.

“I know everyone in showbiz, Bob!”

Then to XY's.

“I'll never sing for you again, Dad!”

“Fine, fine, I'll do it!” Roth begged. “Why couldn't you just threaten my son?”

“Like that would've worked,” Silencer said, giving the manager a deadpan look.

“Damn, you knew.”

----

As they entered the studio once more, the television stopped showing ads, which were replaced by Bob Roth's cringing mug.

“Dear viewers, we're back with an exclusive interview with Bob Roth~” the voice of Alec Cataldi sounded out, although Marigold knew it wasn't him: this had to be Silencer!

“Hey, maybe we should let this play out,” Chat Noir suggested, eager to see the man getting punished for stealing his friends' work, but Marigold sent him a message.

“'It would be revenge, not justice. He'd just take it back later,'” he read aloud before sighing. “Well, you're right. No fun, but right.”

Marigold playfully stuck her tongue at him. Then he got another message.

“'You better not let an Akuma make XY or Chloé Bourgeois look bad'...” he read, wondering how that could not happen, and looked at Scar, who was also sticking her tongue out at him. “Leave the convincing to Marigold.”

----

The heroes quickly bursted in the set, and Chat Noir tackled Silencer out of the way while Marigold took Roth away.

“Mind your business or I'll shut you up forever!” Silencer threatened with Scarlet Lady's voice.

“Aw, but I'm hilarious,” he said, grinning and fending off his stretched-out arm.

Marigold dragged Roth to the first room she could find that would be isolated enough, which, much to her joy, was a dressing room she could use to pull off her plan.

“See here, Marigold! You need to hurry up and get rid of this guy!” Roth ordered, but she paid him no mind as she began to put together what she needed.

“This is all those brats' fault anyway, kitty whatever. Should've just let me steal the idea,” the man kept talking, making her twitch in anger. “Are you seriously doing arts and crafts right now? And where's Scarlet Lady?!”

Alright, that did it. This wouldn't be heroic, but it would feel amazing.

----

Scarlet Lady cuddled up with the tied up XY, who was struggling to move away from the superpowered stalker.

----

With Silencer running to attempt to find Roth, Chat Noir knew it was time to find the enemy and see what Marigold had come up with to do her part. And he also knew how to trick the Akuma.

“Oh nooo, Marigold, where'd you go?” he shouted, knowing that Silencer would be unable to resist the chance.

“I'm here, Chat Noir!” the Akuma said with Marigold's voice. “I defeated Silencer, meet me at the film set!”

He struggled to avoid cracking up, and just barely kept his laughter out of his answer.

“Sure, you got it!”

As he began to run for his destination, he found Marigold in the same corridor, holding her top with a few additions.

“There you are!” Chat Noir happily exclaimed, and he eyed the top. “What is that, 'Venom'?”

Marigold nodded.

“Got held up?” he asked, and Marigold's smile told him there was a story there that he'd love to listen to.

----

In the same dressing room Marigold had taken him to, Bob Roth was currently (unwillingly) cooling his heels thanks to the judicious application of a full roll of duct tape, tying him up to a chair, and rolled out of the way like junk.

“DAMN YOU MARIGOLD!” Roth screamed.

----

As they entered the film set, they found Silencer there, alone, and Chat Noir smirked as he pointed at Marigold.

“Too bad, Silencer, Marigold still has her superpower!” he taunted.

“Impossible!” Silencer exclaimed with Marigold's voice, making Chat Noir grin even wider. “I stole your voice! How could you summon Venom!”

And then the tricked-out top began to shine and twirl, and Marigold stuck her tongue at the Akuma, who realized too late that he had been tricked by the heroes.

“Aw crap,” he said, still using Marigold's voice, but before he could attempt to run away, Kitty Section tackled him.

“Hold still and take it, Luka!” the three teens shouted, grabbing him by the arms and torso to keep him from moving.

“Wuh – guys! Let go!” Silencer said, still using Marigold's voice.

“Omigod is that how you talk?!” Ivan said, laughing at how ridiculous it looked.

“No! Snap out of it!” Juleka ordered, while Rose hugged him even tighter.

“You can't do this!” the blonde girl shouted. “This isn't what we or Marinette want!”

The words caused Silencer to stop struggling, as he pondered the truth of it... giving Marigold the time she needed.

“An opening!” Kitty Section announced as Silencer became paralyzed by Venom, finally allowing Chat Noir to grab the Akumatized object.

“Thanks for the help, Kitty Section!” he said, smiling.

“Juleka, he knows our name!” Rose whispered, excited, but her girlfriend was checking something else.

“Uh, where'd you get a net?” she asked, pointing at the object in Marigold's hand.

Amazing what you find in dressing rooms, she thought, as the jellyfishes flew away from Silencer and she caught them with the net, putting her voice back where it belonged. Picking the one she had seen coming out of Scarlet's mouth, she found her sitting next to XY, who clearly looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the universe other than here (and who could fault him?).

“Here, Scarlet, we got your voice back,” she said, showing the red-with-black-spots jellyfish. “Just put it in your mouth.”

Scarlet made a disgusted sound and crossed her arms in front of her.

“What?”

Scarlet kept making similar wordless sounds and tried to push her back when she approached the voice.

“Just take it already! You have to fix things!” Marigold yelled, annoyed by Scarlet's skewed priorities. Then she looked down at it... and decided that, if Scarlet didn't want it, then she could probably use it.

But when she made to eat it, Scarlet changed her opinion. Clearly, a life without hearing herself talk was too hard for her to imagine.

----

As Scarlet cast the Miraculous Cure, Marigold rushed back to find Luka, who was finally recovering from the effects of Akumatization.

“Ugh,” he mumbled, still a bit disoriented. “What happened?”

“You were Akumatized, but it's fine now!” Marigold said.

“It's a scandal, Marigold!”

Everyone turned to the piece of junk Bob Roth, who had managed to drag himself to the film set along with the chair.

“Tying me up in a dressing room?! But at least you did one thing right!” he yelled, turning to Luka. “Serves you right, thinking you could make me tell the truth! Like I'd admit I stole Kitty Section's song and look for my son! HA!”

Then the man noticed how Marigold and Luka were smirking, and he felt dread going down his stomach.

“... uh, why're you smiling?”

“Because, Bob Roth,” Marigold said, before pointing to a camera... manned by Chat Noir, “you are on Candid Camera!”

“Smile!” Chat Noir added with a smile that wouldn't be out of place in the Cheshire Cat.

“GAH!” Bob Roth yelled, as he realized he had actually confessed the truth to all and sundry! He had to fix this quickly! “Ahahahaa! Obviously I was just joking! I love, uh, Kitty Section, which is why I'm signing them a record deal and having them finish the show!”

As he said this, he was sweating like it were midday in mid-summer, knowing that he was this close to getting his business ruined.

“Can we get that in writing, Bob Roth?” Luka imperiously asked.

----

As Kitty Section quickly went to pick up their things, Chat Noir had to leave, and Marigold hid away so she could undo her transformation, just as her hair comb beeped for the end of her transformation. Returning to the set, it was to see everyone getting ready for singing their song, and she walked up to Luka.

“Luka, um, did you mean what you said? As an Akuma?” she timidly asked, but he shook his head.

“I'm sorry, Marinette, I don't remember. I hope it wasn't mean.”

“Ah, no–” she said, but before she could add more, he spoke.

“You're an extraordinary girl, Marinette,” Luka said, and she felt her entire face burning. “Clear as a music note, sincere as a melody. You're the music that's been playing inside my head since the day we met.”

Marinette gave a silent nod, and as Luka walked to the scenario, she collapsed on the floor and against a wall.

THAT WAS SO MUCH BETTER IN HIS OWN VOICE! she yelled in her mind, even as the ghost she was giving up squeed in delight.

Poor Marinette was left K.O. by the sudden confession, and as she gathered her wits, things were not much better.

“T–That was a love confession, wasn't it, Pollen?” she asked.

“Sure sounded like one to me!” her Kwami teased her, as the music started.

“Aw, geez,” she muttered, as she noticed Luka's eyes zeroing in on her. “How am I supposed to act now...?”

----

After all the kerfuffle was finally sorted out, Adrien was in the middle of his piano practice, as he went over what had happened to his friends.

“Thank goodness things worked out for Kitty Section,” he said; not only did they get that record deal, they had also ensured that all of their work would never be associated to XY, who (along with his father) was very lucky had not been slapped with a demand for plagiarism. Even if Gabriel Agreste had threatened to make things worse for Bob Roth.

Someone knocked on the door as he talked to himself and Plagg.

“Adrien, delivery,” Nathalie announced, and he stepped off the piano to grab the rather large package she had brought to him.

Putting it on a low table, he ripped off the tape.

“Huh, wonder what–”

And then he opened the package and gasped.

“My own Kitty Section costume?!” he shouted in joy. This must have been sent before everything that had happened, which meant Marinette had taken the time to sew him up one in the middle of all the hard work she had done.

“Oooo,” Plagg said, somewhat amazed at how good it looked.

To hell with piano practice, this was super-cool! He quickly donned the entire costume – unicorn mask included! - and posted it on his social network accounts. He may not be an official member of the band, but he would gladly show his love of his friends' group!

----

He had learned many things about crocodiles while taking care of Fang, and one of them was that crocodiles liked to hunt by ambush.

“Alright, Jagged, why'd you call me over so late?” Bob said as he entered the room.

The crocodile was not an animal that liked to run on land. No, they would wait under water, near the surface, unmoving... until prey got close enough.

“I'm in a bad mood so you better have a good reason!” Bob continued to yell, unaware of what was about to happen to him.

Because, as far as Jagged had been concerned... this man was prey today. And he was about to make clear his displeasure about the rotten thing he had tried to do.

“Why's it so dark–”

What a perfect cue! He stepped on the light switch, and the spotlight flashed over him.

“Bob.”

“EEEEKK!”

Ah, the sound of prey that knew how utterly fucked it was. He glowered at the bastard that had tried to ruin several lives that were very important to him.

“Let's talk about you threatening my favorite designer. And my ki– uh, her friends.”

Whoops, nearly slipped out. He hoped Fang was having as much fun as he was.

----

CHEW CHEW CHEW

Tasty thing! Shiny, with color of meat like Father gives me! Feels good to rip!

“DADDYYYYY! JAGGED STONE'S STUPID LIZARD IS EATING MY SHOES!” Loud Human shouts.

Who cares? Father said to chew on these things Loud Human put on her legs, and that was what he was going to do!

----

Desperada

@zoe-oneesama I think Jagged would have learned stuff about crocodiles, even if Fang still behaves like a dog! (Also, can't wait for Crocoduel)

By the way, that's 441 pages, 176582 words, 951399 characters.

#scarlet lady the novel #fanfiction #milarqui #long post #marinette dupain cheng #marigold #adrien agreste #chat noir #scarlet lady is better than canon #silencer #luka couffaine #kitty section