Marinette was once again failing to talk to Adrien.
After several months of trying, she still couldn't seem to make out a full sentence. While asking for some notes from the physics class she'd missed, she had tripped (obviously) and fallen right into his arms. Ignoring Chloe's screaming, she quietly muttered about his golden curls, until after a lifetime, she passed out from embarrassment.
She woke up to find that Alya had dragged her to to nurse, and was ranting while holding a wet towel to her head.
"Girl, c'mon, you've been crazy over that guy for over a year now! When are you finally gonna be able to talk to him?" Marinette could only sulk in response.
Like Alya, Tikki was trying to give Marinette some advice. "Ma-ri-nette, how long are you going to chase Adrien? You're a smart girl, so you should know you've been trying for too long now" she didn't want to seem insensitive, but she had to talk with sense. "I think he's becoming a distraction"
"What do you mean, Tikki?"
"Well... he's distracting you from your life, and I'm worried he's going to distract you from your duties as Ladybug, you must understand that you can't let anything get in the way of you saving Paris, especially a boy like Adrien..." Tikki trailed off at the sight of Marinette's shocked face, staring at the tiny red kwami. She had never seen this expression on the girl's face, less anger and a mixture of disappointment and realization.
Before she could ask about the strange reaction, Marinette was awoken from her trance by a buzz on her phone, from the ladyblog. It was a video. "Oh no! Someone's been akumatized! Gotta transform. Tikki, spots on!" She shouted, and tikki swirled into her earring, aiding her transformation into the spotted super heroine.
The person who had been akumatized was Adrien's chauffeur, Gorilla. Gabriel had shouted at him for being late for Adrien's fencing lesson.
Being Adrien, Chat Noir had arrived early to thes scene, where Gorilla (nobody actually knew his name, since he never really spoke) had become a giant villain, called King Kong. He was currently scaling the Eiffel Tower, no clothes or coverage but a giant satchel, beating his chest with his fists.
"Hey King Kong! I'd say you're a party animal, but I think you're a bit too devolved for that" Chat shouted, as Ladybug arrived.
"Oh, Chat Noir..." Ladybug rolled her eyes. The puns again.
"Hello, M'Lady!" Chat Noir bowed and winked at her. "We've got a royal situation here. So what's the plan, before things get hairy"
'Have you figured out where the akuma is?"
"That snatched he has, what do you think is in it?" Chat pointed to the bag slung around the villain's shoulder.
"I think we'd better find out" and with that, she swung away with her yoyo towards the giant gorilla, closely followed by Chat and his baton.
The purple moth symbol appeared on King Kong's face as Hawk Moth spoke to him "Take Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses! The ring and earrings!" A fierce roar escaped his mouth as King Kong noticed the tiny superheroes clinging to the tower slightly below him.
A large hairy hand came towards them and grabbed them before either could escape. He put Ladybug into his satchel, however before he could do the same to a Chat, Hawk Moth's voice screamed in his head "What are you doing? Seize the miraculous!"
He managed to remove Chat's ring off his hand, leaving ladybug defenseless in the bag. Before looking at the boy, he roared triumphantly, leaving Adrien to dive into his open satchel, into the dark, unnoticed.
"Hello?" Adrien couldn't see anything, and there was no stable floor either. "Ladybug, are you okay?" He yelled into the darkness.
"Chat, what happened?"
"Umm... let's just say that it's good we're in the dark. Or else we would be letting the cat out of the bag" even in desperate times, he couldn't avoid the perfect pun.
"What? Did he take your miraculous?" Chat sighed in response. "Chat, this is the closest an akuma has come to revealing our identities and letting Hawk Moth win! Did anyone see you?"
"No, he didn't look down and it only took me a second to get away..."
"Excuse me..." they were interrupted by a calm female voice. One Adrien instantly recognized as his assistant, Nathalie. He didn't give away that he knew her, though, as his identity was already on the line.
"Who's there?" Ladybug shouted, a little too loud and cautious.
"My name is Nathalie. I... uh... work with Gorilla."
"Well, could you shed some light on the situation, Nathalie?" Adrien silently smirked at his joke.
"I-I think I can" Nathalie stammered. "We both work for GabrĂel Agreste, famous fashion designer, and his son, Adrien." At the mention of his name, the blond boy's heart began to race.
"We arrived at Adrien's fencing lesson late, so when we returned, GabrĂel gave us the usual lecture about time management and punctuality. It has never angered Gorilla as it did today, though." The woman paused, thinking.
"I gave him a present to cheer him up. Since we all call him Gorilla, I have him a keychain in the shape of a banana. He still seemed upset, though"
"Then he was akumatized and took you as hostage!" Ladybug could easily guess the rest. "Where is the keychain? It must be where the akuma is hiding."
