Gamer Love: Player One
Ladybug was a fierce Ultimate Mecha Strike III player, some considered her the best of the best, the queen of the game. And honestly, Marinette didn't really have any complaints about apparently being the number one player in the community. She loved interacting with different people from around the world.
The only downfall in all of this was the obvious distance between her skill level and everyone she either knew or played against. Ever since the newest update came out with the introduction of online connection, Marinette was bombarded with messages every day asking if someone was able to play a round with her. And she'd respond to as many of those messages as she could, her LB-BOT going against anyone who dared face her.
Maybe she had too much practice with UMS I and II, and now she had to face the consequences of having an almost near perfect winning streak. This streak sparked plenty of hate mail towards her claiming that she cheated during her games. Alya, who played under the name Lady Wifi, played a handful of quick matches with Marinette every time so that the mysterious Ladybug could get herself warmed up. She laughed at the absurdity of Marinette cheating. Girl was too much a cinnamon roll to cheat at anything.
Alya was the only one who knew that Marinette was Ladybug. The rest of her class had absolutely no idea that one of the most famous (if not the most) players in the gaming community was sitting right under their noses, literally.
Marinette, however, had the upper hand in terms of usernames.
Rose went under the name of Princess Fragrance, but she didn't play often. Juleka, who went under the name of Reflekta, was trying to get the small blonde more into the series. Marinette played a few games against her, and Juleka had a fair amount of skill.
Ivan, or Stone Heart, was a pretty good opponent, but he was honestly too much of a pushover. Mylène, however, wasn't that good simply because she wasn't experienced. The Horrificator (probably a name to counter the fact that she was terribly afraid of almost everything, the poor child) was new to the world of Strike, and she learned of Ladybug the hard way.
(Meaning, a thirty-second long match. If that.)
Max was a little better. The Gamer played many rounds with Ladybug during her reign, but his attacks and combos were always so obvious. It didn't take much figuring out to see his plan and intercept it as soon as it was started. Kim was really no better, but then again, it seemed as though Dark Cupid was more of a button masher than a strategic player like Max. Nathanaël had a hidden talent as the Evillustrator. His combos were always almost off the cuff and never planned. Didn't mean Marinette didn't still catch them and stop them.
Nino, the Bubbler, was more of Lady Wifi's rival than Ladybug's. Sure, she enjoyed a few games here and there with him, but his messages were almost always something along the lines of, "Help me beat Lady Wifi!"
He never did beat her, Marinette recalled Alya once mentioning that she had a perfect win streak against Nino.
Adrien didn't play UMS III. Or at least, that's what he said. Marinette wasn't sure if that was because he was too busy with modeling to have time for it or because he just simply wasn't into the series.
She didn't necessarily mind. She hated the idea of possibly beating Adrien at a video game.
UPDATE 1.8.0
NEW FEATURE(S): Spectating and live chat rooms
Marinette was surprised to see this update, this big of an update barely a month since 1.7.0 came out. The community must have asked to be able to watch matches live and be able to chat with each other during them.
Just before Marinette could sign in onto Ladybug, her phone vibrated on her desk, a message from Alya popping up on her lock screen, asking if Ladybug was ready for her normal practice match against Lady Wifi.
Marinette answered her with one of the newest features, a private game invite.
The game lasted just a few minutes, but it was enough to get Marinette hyped up for new challenges. She went into her inbox and looked for the first user who was online, sending a quick message confirming their match. In only a few seconds, they were in game with the chat blowing up and the view count rising to almost-
Oh, Marinette giggled as LB-BOT unleashed a strong combo. Over one thousand viewers. Ladybug really was popular.
Well into her third game, a name was getting repeated in the chat, even if the user themselves wasn't watching her play.
Chat Noir.
Apparently he sounded like he had skill great enough to possibly beat her, but if he was so good, why hadn't Marinette ever heard (or seen) his name in the forums? She herself was a frequent on the UMS III forums and she couldn't remember seeing Chat Noir's name ever pop up.
The live chat was almost begging Ladybug to play against this Chat Noir, and while her current opponent was knocked down, she went down to the chat and assured them that she would go check out Chat Noir's profile. The chat, if they were a real live human being instead of a group of players from around the world, would probably be swooning because all the responses after Ladybug's were heart-eye and excited-smiley-face emojis.
True to her word, Marinette clicked her way to Chat Noir's profile after her match ended, blinking at the silly-drawn black cat set as his profile picture. His basic information only stated that he was sixteen and lived in Paris, France. Marinette's eyebrows rose. If this player truly was as good as her fans were claiming he was, this news on his location was huge.
It looked as though he was online, even in the middle of a game as Marinette clicked on the spectate box under his username. His current opponent had half of his HP left while Chat Noir looked to only have taken one light hit. She glanced down at his live chat to see that there were greetings for her, as well as repeated lines of a ladybug emoji, a black cat emoji, and a heart emoji. Marinette laughed, seeing people clearly ship Ladybug and Chat Noir despite them never playing a single game together.
Marinette rested her head on the palm of her hand as she watched his CN-BOT take down his opponent with practiced ease. The match couldn't have lasted more than two minutes, and after it was over, Marinette couldn't help but laugh at the explosion from the live chat, all asking if she would go against Chat Noir and if she thought he would be a worthy opponent. The girl behind the famous player rested her fingers over the keyboard and replied.
Ladybug: He's pretty good.
And before the thousands of viewers could reply, she quickly added another line.
Ladybug: For an amateur.
The next hundred or so messages were all variations of, "Ooooooh!", "Burn!" and some sort of meme she guessed regarding someone named Daniel.
The response from the sly cat, however, was much more personal.
GAME REQUEST: Chat Noir
well, let this 'amateur' show you what he's got :3
ACCEPT | DECLINE
Marinette cracked her knuckles, texted Alya of her incoming game, and hit 'ACCEPT'.
Chat Noir was an exciting opponent. A breath of fresh air in comparison to all of Ladybug's previous opponents. His combos were strategic and deliberate, and he was certainly no button masher. Despite his valiant efforts, CN-BOT was no match for LB-BOT, and Marinette took him down, looking at the chat (two thousand people! That was insane!) to see that instead of it being split between viewers cheering and viewers booing, it seemed as though there was a mutual agreement that while Chat Noir was a good player, he was still not on the level that was the champion of UMS.
Alya was texting her, proudly praising Marinette on how amazing that match had been, when her computer dinged, signaling an incoming instant message on the UMS forum, which was where her post-game journey had taken her. She opened it, blinking as the message 'hi :3' looked back at her. She looked at the sender, barely surprised to see that it was from her now favorite opponent.
Before she could reply, another message popped up.
Chat Noir: you're insanely good at ums. congrats on the win, i can see why you're called the champion
Ladybug: Thank you for the praise, but I must commend you on your skill. I've never played with someone as talented at the game as you.
Chat Noir: really? i find that hard to believe
Ladybug: Have you seen my win streak? It felt really refreshing to have a challenge.
Chat Noir: well i'm glad to be of service. same time tomorrow?
Marinette blinked. He was asking in advance to play with her again? No one's ever done that… The girl grinned as she let her fingers run against her keyboard.
Ladybug: Of course! Until tomorrow, minou.
Chat Noir: until then, my lady
As a final goodbye for the night, Martinette sent him a friend request, the only one she'd ever sent as Ladybug. It was accepted immediately.
"Girl, you made history last night," Alya whispered as soon as Marinette stepped through the front doors of the school. The redhead's phone was in her hand (Marinette believed that it was super-glued there or something) and she had a huge smile on her face. "That match between Ladybug and Chat Noir was the biggest thing to hit UMS!"
"You watched it?"
Alya let out a snort. "Honey, I wouldn't have missed that game for the world. The forums are bustling with people talking about it. The mysterious Ladybug, with not one person on their friend's list, suddenly playing against someone who seems to have an equal amount of skill."
"No one on my friend's list?" Marinette laughed. "Who said that?"
Alya stared at her in confusion before her eyes drifted back to her phone, finally seeing the number next to the word 'Friends' on Ladybug's profile. "You sent Chat Noir a friend request? You never send friend requests!"
Marinette shrugged, smiling as she opened the door to their classroom, the loud conversation breaking the quiet that was in the hallway. "Alya! Did you catch the match yesterday?" Kim asked, turning away from his debate with Nino and Max.
Alya sent him a thumbs up. "Who do you think I am, Kim? I was practically front row."
"Everyone was front row," Nino laughed. "Unless people watched the game with a group of friends."
Marinette met Alya's eye, and the girls walked to their row. "Leave it to gamers to treat an online match on a video game as an actual sports event."
"The two most popular players in the community battling it out? Come on girl, I know you hate all the extra attention but it's serious business."
Marinette didn't respond, instead looked up at the door when Adrien walked in, a soft smile spread over his lips. Nino almost instantly called him over to where it sounded like they were having a heated discussion on the game, and Alya laughed as Marinette blatantly watched him. "You have got to ask him out on a date or something, Mari. This is getting ridiculous," Alya said, leaning back in her chair.
"I can't do that!"
The redhead shook her head and looked back at her phone. "So, are you playing against Chat Noir again anytime soon?"
"Oh, right, I have to make a post about our next match, thanks for reminding me," Marinette replied, pulling out her own cell phone and logging onto the forums. "We have a plan for tonight. Not really a rematch, but I guess just another friendly game."
"Really?" Alya sat up straight. "I don't remember Ladybug ever having a set plan in terms of matches."
"I don't either," the dark-haired girl whispered. "It was Chat that asked."
"Well, it's good to see that you finally found someone worthy of your skill."
Marinette smiled. For almost two weeks now, she and Chat Noir had played one game every day, at exactly six in the evening. For hours before and after the two of them would spend time chatting, going on about their days at school or really whatever came into play. They exchanged, in case of emergency only, their Skype usernames, and very quickly the nicknames changed. Ladybug became 'pretty lady' and Chat Noir became 'handsome chat'.
It was almost as though the two of them had known each other for years instead of weeks. Marinette knew that Chat Noir didn't really like his home life, which was why he created the confident, meme-loving, flirty persona that was Chat Noir, and she felt bad for him. Marinette decided to never brag about her own family life, in fear that it would somehow upset her newest partner. He seemed fine for the most part, and she didn't want to cause him any distress.
That is, until well after their most recent game.
Her phone started going off the hook—Skype messages. Marinette groggily pat the space around her pillow, turning the screen of her device on. It was well past midnight, and there were at least twelve messages from Chat Noir—going on thirteen.
She unlocked her phone and immediately opened Skype.
handsome chat: hey
handsome chat: ladybug i'm sorry that this is so late
handsome chat: it's just my dad
handsome chat: he really pissed me off and
handsome chat: i don't have anyone else to turn to
handsome chat: if you don't reply that's fine by me
handsome chat: but please
handsome chat: i don't want to be alone right now
handsome chat: please please please please ladybug
pretty lady: is a voice call okay?
Her phone started vibrating and that silly-drawn black cat picture filled her screen as she tapped the voice call button. She popped her headphones in just in time to hear the static-y, "Hello?" on the other line.
"Chat?" she asked softly. "Are you okay?"
"I—I don't know, Ladybug. I just—my father said some pretty nasty stuff a-and normally it doesn't affect me this bad but he started talking about my performance in school and work and I just—I kinda lost control of my emotions. Not in front of him, thank god, but it still hurt to hear him say that stuff."
Marinette hesitated. "Once, when I was little," she began quietly, burrowing a little deeper into her covers, "I ate an entire cake by myself. My parents were so afraid that I was going to get sick. I only burped for about three days straight and earned the nickname 'Strawberry Shortcake'."
Chat Noir chuckled on the other line. "Are you serious?"
"Hundred percent, minou." Marinette laughed. "Let's just say I learned my lesson that day. Never ate more sweets than I could handle ever again."
"You're adorable."
A heartbeat of silence.
"Thank you, my lady. But I'm afraid that's the only nickname I'll call you. I'm sorry for keeping you up late. Your story did cheer me up, thank you. I won't keep you any longer. Goodnight, Ladybug."
"Goodnight, Chat."
Chat Noir: today's game was great! it's incredible that we always have such a great turnout of viewers
Ladybug: Right? My best friend has like, a BLOG dedicated to me and the only thing on there as of late is us. It's insane.
Chat Noir: hahaha no way! don't tell me we have a ship name
Ladybug: We do! LadyNoir or something like that.
Chat Noir: lmfao! pretty creative, i'll give her credit
Chat Noir: but people are shipping us? we don't know a thing about each other, other than that one of your old nicknames used to be strawberry shortcake
Ladybug: Hush, kitty.
Chat Noir: forgive me, my lady. but that does tickle me fancy. can we play a game of twenty questions?
Marinette hesitated. She liked the anonymity of Ladybug. But Chat Noir had grown to be someone important to her, so who was she to deny his wishes?
Ladybug: Sure. You first.
Chat Noir: purrfect
Chat Noir: what's your favorite color?
Ladybug: Green. The color of meadows.
And of Adrien's eyes, she added mentally.
She stopped. As of late, she hadn't even been thinking about Adrien. She'd become so focused on Chat Noir...
Chat Noir: interesting. mine's blue, like the ocean
Ladybug: Water is clear.
Chat Noir: don't ruin this cat's dreams, bug
Chat Noir: they're all i have left
Ladybug: Oh, sorry.
Ladybug: So what do you do other than play UMS?
Chat Noir: um
Chat Noir: i fence, i model
Chat Noir: i don't know if that last one is too personal
Ladybug: I don't think so. There's this one boy in my class that models, so I guess you saying you model isn't that bad? It's apparently really popular among teenage boys haha.
Chat Noir: lol i guess? i don't know, it's not my favorite thing to do
Chat Noir: i just do it because my dad wants me to
Ladybug: So is UMS your way out?
Chat Noir: technically, you are
Chat Noir: i wouldn't be online every day if you wasn't for you, my lady
Marinette blushed, her fingers stilling on her keyboard.
Chat Noir: i don't know if that's weird, considering we've never met
Chat Noir: but i consider you my best friend
Chat Noir: i've never been so close to someone before
Chat Noir: even my desk mate in school hasn't seen this side of me
Chat Noir: he just knows i'm chat noir
Chat Noir: he doesn't know about how close i am with you
Chat Noir: ladybug?
Ladybug: I think-
Ladybug: ithinki'minlovewithyou
She bit her lip as she waited for some sort of response. Instead of a typed message, her computer started singing and a Skype window popped up with the words, "handsome chat is calling…" lit up. She clicked on the voice call option and before she could even get a word out, his voice came barreling through her speakers. "Are you for real?" The question was breathy as if he'd exhaled everything in his lungs before he'd asked.
"I—I said I think," she replied carefully. "I've never been in love like this before, so it's all new to me."
"W-well…I might be in love with you, too, then," he whispered, and his voice sounded more muffled than usual, as if he was hiding in his arms. "But I don't want to rush…whatever this is. If we're better off as friends, then we're better off as friends…"
"I think we can make this work," Marinette sighed, resting her head against her desk. "I think we'll be okay."
Within the next month a new announcement was made regarding a live competition for everyone in the UMS community, if they so chose to participate. Marinette, not wanting to be bested at her own game, added her username among the list of thousands and was set up with another player for her first round of matches. The rounds would continue until the final sixteen were chosen and set up into brackets.
It was said that the finalists would meet in Paris (since the game was developed there, the hosts decided it would only be fair to fly in the remaining sixteen to participate in the competition) and the final matches would take place over the course of three days at Le Parc des Princes, where they'd have enough room to set up large enough screens and equipment to give players room.
When Marinette went to message Chat Noir about the announcement late one night, he happily replied that he'd already signed up and had his first match scheduled for the next day.
Chat Noir: i hope we get to the final two, my lady
Ladybug: Oh? And why is that?
Chat Noir: i'm sure you know. it's been exciting talking like this but to talk face to face i'm sure i'd just melt on the spot
Ladybug: Oh no, I'd have a broken cat to deal with XD
Chat Noir: oh ha ha
Chat Noir: very funny bug
Chat Noir: say...are you up for a voice call?
Marinette smiled and clicked right over to Skype, calling Chat Noir as she popped her headphones in. He answered after a short while with, "The least you could do is warn me that you're just immediately going to call. My heart almost stopped when my computer started yelling at me and this picture of a ladybug popped up on my screen."
"Aw, is someone a scaredy-cat?" Marinette taunted, getting a gruff from her partner.
"I'm the one that makes the puns in this relationship, lady." She laughed at the pout evident in his voice.
"I'm sorry, minou." She smiled, even if he couldn't see it. "Just think. Maybe in about a month we'll finally meet face to face."
"I can't wait to see your beauty in person, princess. I might just end up staring at you because you'll take my breath away."
"You are such the romantic."
"Only for you," he whispered back. There was a sudden commotion and some frantic clicking from his side before she heard his voice again, a little more distant. "Père?" he asked.
"What are you still doing awake? You have a busy day tomorrow, you should be in bed." Marinette bit her lip at the sound of the stern voice.
"I'm surprised you care," he replied to what Marinette knew was his father. "If you must know, I'm working on some things for school. I'm not wasting my precious sleeping hours doing nothing."
There was a pause, but Marinette didn't dare speak in fear that Chat Noir's father would hear her. She didn't know if he had his headphones plugged in. "Just don't stay up for much longer. The makeup artists will have trouble covering up any shadows you'll get."
"Yes, père." The was another pregnant pause before Chat Noir's voice returned to her. "I'm so sorry, Ladybug. I wish you didn't have to hear that."
"It's fine, minou," she replied. "I'm sorry that you have to deal with that. He sounded so uninterested even when you said that it was school work."
"Yeah, well, it's what I have to deal with." He sighed. "But everything's better now that I've met you, my lady."
Marinette smiled, resting her hand against her palm. "Oh? Is that so?"
"It's very so. Well, my dear, it's late and we both have important matches tomorrow after school. I'd hate for either of us to be disqualified from the tournament."
"Until next time, Chat Noir."
"Until next time."
Ladybug breezed through the qualifying rounds of the competition, earning a spot in the final sixteen. The event's matches would be broadcasted on the player's respective profile as well as the site's main hub. When the finalists were eventually announced, Marinette was surprised to see that she and Chat Noir were on opposite sides (thank heavens for that, maybe if they were lucky enough, they'd end up in the final two). The nervousness of keeping her identity hidden was gone and she wanted to meet her long-time gaming partner in person.
They spent hours on the forums and on Skype talking about the tournament before it arrived. He expressed over and over his excitement upon being able to meet Ladybug and the girl behind the username. Marinette always smiled at his clear devotion towards her.
When the first day came around, Marinette dressed in her most comfortable yet fashionable clothes, a ladybug themed bracelet wrapped around her wrist. It was a subtle thing, she was more than sure that the players she would go against would freak out over seeing her log in before they would even notice the piece of jewelry.
She messaged Chat Noir excitedly.
pretty lady: Are you here yet?
pretty lady: I'm soooooo excited
She looked away from her phone to smile at a fellow Striker as they walked by. It vibrated in her hand.
handsome chat: yes! I just got here lol I can't wait to see you
pretty lady: Should we keep it a surprise? If we make it to the finals together, that is
handsome chat: As much as I would like to meet you sooner, I think that's a pretty good idea
handsome: So make sure you don't watch the live camera feeds, only the footage from my games on my profile!
pretty lady: Same goes to you, monsieur! :3
The announcer came onto the speakers and called forward the first of the brackets, and Marinette bid Chat Noir a quick farewell before stepping out onto the field, eyes locking with the judge as he directed her to her station. She flashed a smile at her opponent, waiting for them to log on—Monsieur Pidgeon—before typing in her own username. She glanced at him to watch his reaction, seeing his wide eyes as he looked back at her. He gulped and nodded, and they waited for the judge to call for start.
In the corner of her screen, a message popped up: "good luck, beautiful!" Marinette smiled as she held the controller with a little more vigor.
The judged gave the call and Ladybug's LB-BOT went right to work, taking down BRD-BOT in a matter of seconds. Marinette wondered how this man had made it through the qualifying rounds if she was able to defeat him in such a short amount of time, but she just figured he'd been too shocked that he was fighting Ladybug in the flesh. She stood up and offered him her hand, the bracelet dangling from her thin wrist. "Good game," she said with a smile.
"It was a pleasure," he replied.
Chat Noir's match wasn't as short as hers, but it looked as though it was just as easy. He'd only sustained one hit through the whole game but he'd unleashed such a combo with CN-BOT that it basically destroyed his opponent. The second round and the semi-finals were scheduled for the next day, and Marinette couldn't seem to fall asleep fast enough for morning to come.
The second round and the semi-final round ended almost the same way, with the semi-finalist Ladybug had gone against at least putting up some of a fight before she was inevitably taken down by the trusted ladybug robot. Marinette squealed as Chat Noir's semi-final round came and went and she realized that she would be finally seeing him for the first time in person. The boy behind the screen that she had come to love was right there, waiting to meet her.
Their messages that night before the finals consisted of good-luck wishes and exclamation points and repeated lines of, 'i love you'.
When Marinette stepped into the stadium that following day, she didn't really feel like Ladybug. Sure, she had on the bracelet, and yes, she'd texted Alya who had promised to tune into the live feed as soon as she could, but the butterflies in her stomach were getting a little out of control. She took in a deep breath and steadied herself, hands clenched at her sides. She tried to breathe. You can do this, she repeated to herself. You're Ladybug, community champion of UMS.
"And now we welcome our two finalists!
She stepped onto the grass and walked towards the raised platform where the computers sat, the login screen for UMS staring into her soul, and she watched as a very familiar blond walked to the station across from her. "Marinette...?" he whispered.
"Adrien?" she managed back, before thrusting out her hand with the bracelet, taking in the slender, pale hand with the black ring around its ring finger, eyes tracking it as Adrien brought it to his lips gently.
"My lady," he greeted properly, moving to sit down and log in. Sure enough, the name Chat Noir soon blinked on her screen. She shook away her nerves and logged onto Ladybug, and watched as a dialogue box popped up.
GAME REQUEST: Chat Noir
i love you, marinette. good luck.
ACCEPT | DECLINE
Marinette steeled herself and looked into his green eyes, clicking 'ACCEPT' as she mouthed her reply of, "I love you, too" back. The countdown began and when it reached zero the bots attacked with equal ferocity, hits being landed and blocks being administered, their HP bars were basically going down at the same rate. Marinette knew that no matter who won, their relationship wouldn't change (well, maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir's wouldn't, but Marinette and Adrien's would), but something in the back of her mind nagged at her. Watching the red HP bar get closer and closer to zero, she quickly made her decision.
Marinette watched as CN-BOT charged up an attack. She put up her shield, and met Adrien's eyes. Right as he unleashed his combo, her shield went down, and so did LB-BOT.
The first match out of many that Ladybug had lost, and it had been against her amazing partner Chat Noir.
He jumped from his chair, running to Marinette and picking her up to spin her around, smiling brightly. "I know you threw that game for me," he said, and Marinette smiled sheepishly. "But I don't really care." He took in a deep breath and let it out with a laugh. "See, I told you you'd take my breath away."
"Oh, hush up, minou, you see me every day in class," she laughed.
"Yeah, but now I'm dating you, so I wanna be a little more present in your life."
Marinette raised an eyebrow. "I honestly thought you didn't play UMS."
"What can I say?" He shrugged. "It's my way out from dealing with reality."
And he kissed her.
author's notes:
i've been working on this for months and i'm so happy with the results!
yes, there will be a second installment (it'll be its own one-shot) but it'll be adrien's point of view and have a few different scenarios
but it'll end the same
thanks for reading!
bye-bye petit papillons!
