Chapter 1

The air was chilly and filled with delighted shrieks of young Parisians and their guardians. To a child, this was the most exciting night of the year. Halloween. When you could be whoever you wanted, and collect mounds of delicious treats in the process. A night of friends, sweets, laughter, and most importantly, spooks. For Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste, this Halloween wasn't just creepy, it was absolutely terrifying.

Marinette's best friend, Alya, was hosting a spectacular Halloween bash, of which their entire class was invited to attend. Alya, being the most wonderful of party planners, was completely calm and composed. The black and orange streamers were weaved carefully between the staircase banister, the helium-filled balloons were tied neatly into bunches of even numbers, and the snacks were tidily organized by color. Every guest had responded, confirming their attendance, including Alya's special guests. Ladybug and Cat Noir. Earlier that week...

"Cat Noir and Ladybug, Marinette! They're actually coming! Can you believe it? I can't! Oh, this is so exciting!". The blogger had been chattering on about her favorite superheros' reply to her invitation since yesterday evening.

"I know! It's amazing! How did you convince them to come, anyways?" Little did Alya know, Marinette already knew the answer to this question, for she, in fact, was Ladybug, and worked closely with her partner, Cat Noir.

"Oh, it was easy! I just tracked their latest rescuing of an akumatized victim, and handed them each an invitation. Sure, I had to fight my way past crowds of reporters and news casters, but it was well worth it!" explained Alya, pulling her phone from her back pocket, and unlocking it, "I even managed to capture a video, perfect for the Ladyblog!"

The darker-haired girl stared intently at the screen, pretending to be amazed, while her best friend observed with a look of pride. She thought back to the day she received the invitation, as pictured in the video. You see, Marinette had issues with turning offers down. She just couldn't say no, poor girl. When Alya had given Ladybug an invitation to the party, she just couldn't disappoint her friend. Unfortunately, Marinette had also been invited, so her night was about to become very stressful and difficult. Usually balancing her double life was easy, but this time was different. Everyone would be wearing costumes, so if someone saw Ladybug, they might just see Marinette in a Ladybug costume, and put the pieces together. Her identity as a superhero was very secret, so any chance that it might be revealed was a horrifying thought. Cat Noir's attendance didn't make the issue better. He was always giving signs that he wanted to reveal his true identity to her, most likely expecting her to do the same. But she just couldn't! It would jeopardize their friendship. She was better off alone...

"Hey dudes, whatcha talkin' about?"

Nino and Adrien walked up behind them, making Marinette jump, causing Alya to giggle. The fashion designer had a tendency to act strangely around Adrien, as she was majorly crushing on him.. Not to mention, the nervousness and anticipation of the Halloween celebration was making her extra jumpy.

"Oh, nothing! Just the fact that Ladybug and Cat Noir are coming to my party tonight!" Alya announced.

"Wow! Ladybug?" Adrien said, sighing, "That's amazing!"

"Ooh! Looks like someone's in love with a certain spotted bug!" teased Alya.

Quickly snapping out of his daydream, Adrien said, "Ha, ha. Very funny."

Marinette smiled shyly, and blushed a dark shade of pink. She had already figured out that Cat Noir was crushing on Ladybug, but Adrien too? Wow, I guess daily saving Paris was a quality that many boys found attractive.

"So, are you guys gonna show on Friday? Alya said you didn't RSVP yet, and I need to know how many macarons to make for the dessert table!" Marinette said, with a surprising amount of confidence.

"Uh, totally! Right, Adrien?" Nino said.

"Of course! If Ladybug's gonna be there, I'm in!" He clicked his tongue and winked at Marinette, then jogged off with Nino.

As soon as their backs were turned, the girls started squealing. Now Marinette had both Adrien and Alya counting on Ladybug being at the party. She was just going to have to figure it out...