AN: This one-shot was so much fun to make, and right in time for Halloween! Hope you enjoy!
Haunted Hoax
October really was a beautiful time in Paris. The sky was clear and the cool air gave the perfect excuse to bundle up in a favorite sweater. Marinette smiled as she strolled through the streets, designing as she walked. Paris never failed to give her inspiration , and today was not an exception. People were putting up Halloween decorations on their doors and windows, and some of them were even homemade. Marinette was intent on having a homemade costume as well, and took the decorations' designs as future ideas to help her. She was nearly done with her costume, a red and black witch dress. It had a long black velvet skirt and black velvet sleeves, a red corset, and a red hat with black lace over it. Marinette loved it so far, and decided to put in the finishing touches. With the final pencil stroke, she closed her design book and rushed home, ready to start sewing the costume.
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Adrien did not want a handmade costume, or an expensive one for that matter. All he wanted was a generic vampire costume, the kind you could get from a store. Definitely not something that would catch someone's eye or make someone jealous. His father had completely forgotten about Halloween, so sneaking out to get such a costume didn't prove to be difficult. The clerk had been confused to why the Adrien Agreste would want a scratchy store costume, but proceeded to check out the costume anyways. Once Adrien got home, he found himself smiling whenever he glanced over at his costume. Tomorrow was Halloween, and he was definitely ready. He looked over at the clock and nearly jumped at what he saw. It was already 8:30, time for patrol. He quickly fed Plagg, or as quickly as the small kwami would allow, and transformed.
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Ladybug frowned. Chat noir wasn't often late, and when he was it was only by a couple minutes. It was nearly ten minutes now. She was about to call him on her compact when suddenly something, or someone, grabbed her shoulders.
"Boo!"
Ladybug just rolled her eyes and turned around to face her partner. "Really Chat? You take ten minutes and that's the best you can do?" she deadpanned.
"Hey, why weren't you scared? I'm a black cat, which some people view as a bad omen. Doesn't that count for something?" Chat whined.
"You are a bad omen, that's for sure. Also, for your information, I don't get scared. I don't know why, but nothing spooks me," Ladybug stated proudly. Maybe Marinette would get frightened, but nearly nothing scared her as Ladybug.
"Oh really? Nothing, you say? Well, how about a little wager?" Chat grinned.
"What kind of wager are we talking about here, kitty?" Ladybug inquired, deciding to play along.
Chat took a moment to think. What would make his Lady scared? He couldn't think of anything, but Ladybug raised a curious eyebrow at him, so he went with the first thing that popped up in his mind.
"Uh, what about a... haunted house! If you scream once inside of it, then you have to laugh at all of my puns for a week!" he declared, crossing his arms confidently.
"A haunted house? As if that will scare me. I accept your challenge, but you can't have the haunted house at your house. Secret identities, remember?" Ladybug pointed out.
"You got it LB. Let's shake on it," Chat agreed.
The two superheroes shook their gloved hands and started their patrol.
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Marinette was in a scramble to finish her costume afterwards. She knew from the beginning how she wanted the hat, and had fortunately finished it a week ago. The rest of the costume was nearly done now, due to her caffeine-induced sewing frenzy. She powered through each stitch and cut, and moved like a maniac around her room. An hour later she finally finished, and promptly collapsed in her chair.
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The next day at school was crazy. Monsters and heroes flooded the hallways, including quite a few Ladybug and Chat Noir costumes. It was no surprise to see Alya dressed as Ladybug with Nino as Chat Noir following behind her as she pushed though the students to get to Marinette.
"Oh Mari, your costume is adorable! I bet you made that yourself, didn't you?" Alya smiled as she took in the costume.
"I did, thanks to lots of coffee," Marinette joked.
"It looks great Marinette!" a voice called from behind her. She jumped, and turned around to face Adrien, dressed in a vampire costume.
"Oh, u-uh, THANKS!" she squeaked, already feeling her face become red.
Alya and Nino shared a look and glanced at the pair. Adrien looked as oblivious as always to Marinette's not-so secret crush
"Yo Adrien, I was expecting you to show up in some extravagant outfit that put all of ours to shame," Nino quipped.
"Nope, Father forgot about Halloween this year, so I get to wear this instead! It's pretty awesome, don't you think?" Adrien asked as he looked down fondly at his costume.
"Sure dude, whatever makes you happy." Adrien just nodded cheerfully in response. The first bell rang, and the group made their way to class.
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Adrien practically ran to the store where he bought his costume once school was over. The same store clerk immediately recognized him and called out to him. "Hey, weird model kid, back to buy more cheap costumes?"
"Not this time. Do you happen to have any big Halloween themed tents?" Adrien asked.
"I'm guessing this is for a haunted house? Because if so, you're in luck," the store clerk said as he walked over to the back of the store. There were cardboard boxes with build-your-own haunted houses against the wall. Adrien grinned as he picked out the biggest one and paid the store clerk.
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Later that evening Chat finished setting up the haunted house in the Luxembourg Gardens. The gardens were already decorated for Halloween, so that worked to his advantage. Chat grinned as he looked over the tent. Time to give it a quick test run, he decided. He entered the tent and felt his grin drop. The ghosts and skeletons inside wouldn't even scare a mouse, much less Ladybug. He turned around and tried to think of a way to fix this. Ladybug would be there in a little less than an hour, which wasn't enough time to get a new haunted house from a different store.
Chat's problem was solved when he saw Nino walking though the garden. This gives me an idea, he smiled as he ran over to the DJ.
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Ladybug found Chat waiting for her on the Eiffel Tower, grinning like an idiot. "Happy Halloween, My Lady!" he said as he bowed.
"Happy Halloween to you too, Chat. Now, where's this haunted house?" she smiled.
"I'm glad you asked. Follow me!" Chat said as he jumped off the Eiffel Tower onto the nearest building. Ladybug followed suit and ran after him.
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They arrived at the Luxenbourg Gardens, which Ladybug would admit, looked slightly scary at night. Not enough to make her scream though.
"So where is this haunted house?" she asked as she turned to Chat.
"It's right over there past the trees," he said as he pointed over to the left. "Just walk straight. Go on in once you get there."
"What, you're not coming?" Ladybug asked.
"I'm afraid not. I have some... other things to take care of," Chat grinned as he extended his baton, taking him on the other side of the trees.
Ladybug merely shrugged and started towards the direction of the haunted house.
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Once she got there she nearly laughed. A poorly set-up large black tent was placed in the middle of the green. She walked over and lifted up the door flap. The inside was full of plastic monsters and a couple of flickering lights. She yawned. This was supposed to scare her? She snickered as she headed towards the exit.
Suddenly, a figure jumped out at her. It had red eyes and fangs for teeth. Ladybug just sighed.
"Really Chat? I know it's you."
"Who are you talking to, My Lady?" Ladybug turned around. There was Chat, in his regular cat suit. She froze.
"But if you're there, then..." she said with horror as she turned back to the monster. It growled at her.
She screamed and ran out of the house. Chat chuckled and turned to the "monster".
"Good job, Nino! You really scared her."
The figure took off the mask and revealed the happy teenage boy. Nino gave a thumbs-up.
"Glad I could help dude."
Epilogue
Chat was waiting on the Eiffel Tower when Ladybug arrived for patrol.
"Ready to accept your punishment?" he smirked.
Ladybug gave a strained laugh while glaring at her partner. This is going to be a long week, she thought bitterly.
AN: That's it! Feel free to review. Happy Halloween!