Before we begin this time, a quick AN:
The challenge from the previous chapter does still stand! I'd love to see your take on a continuation! (Not that people read the AN in the previous chapter, considering I got reviews that said 'more please'. The challenge popped up because, at the time, I had no idea how to continue this. It still stands because I'm certain there are people that could do it better. However, I hope you enjoy this surprise continuation, and I hope everyone's in character.
.(Here we go).
There they go again, Alya thought to herself as she watched Adrien and Marinette making not-so-discrete glances at each other. Oh sure, she knew they were trying to keep their budding romance a secret from her, but she also knew exactly how said romance began. A reveal of secrets in an alleyway near the Eiffel Tower, while she had ended up looking on as Ladybug and Chat Noir had dropped the masks and costumes to show they were two of her best friends. Alya was sure she could be patient, and wait for the two of them to reveal both their true identities and the romance she had seen begin with every blushing glance in the alley.
But then her younger sisters had been akumatized, Marinette vanished with a lame excuse, and Ladybug had arrived, bringing with her the Fox Miraculous and Trixx. Alya had then taken up the challenge of being Rena Rouge, the illusion-wielding heroine. Alya had hoped, in vain, that Marinette would trust her with the secret of being Ladybug, but instead Ladybug had requested the return of the Fox Miraculous and had not revealed anything. Alya had made post after post on the Ladyblog, noting how mushy and romantic Chat and Ladybug were being with each other, hoping that Adrien and Marinette would take note and reveal their budding romance to her, or at the very least ask each other out. But no, they both kept blushing, stuttering, and stealing glances at each other when they thought no one was looking.
At this point, Alya's patience was shot and she found herself snapping at her friends, finding herself surprisingly unconcerned with the possibility of creating akumas. She also found herself wishing she still had the bronze necklace that Trixx lived in, if only to have someone in on the secret to rant to, however Chat Noir and Ladybug had been dealing with the akumas without needing the help of other heroes. A scream interrupted her thoughts, and she sighed deeply before she pulled her phone out to record the attack. Just because she knew the identities of the Parisian heroes didn't mean she would stop recording attacks for the fans of the Ladyblog. Adrien and Marinette bolted off together, away from the akuma drill route, obviously to transform to deal with the akuma.
Alya raced towards the scream, phone camera first, and saw Ladybug and Chat leaping into the fray, fighting the colourfully-dressed villain and guarding a petite brunette girl. Alya darted into the battle zone, grabbing the crying brunette and pulling her away.
"Run," Alya said firmly, and the brunette swiped at her eyes and bolted, following the group of students escaping the school. Ladybug and Chat actually seemed to be struggling when Alya looked back towards the battle. Ladybug called out Lucky Charm, a red spotted item tumbling out of the sky. Ladybug looked at the item and then her eyes darted around the fight zone but then she looked back at the item with confusion.
"Chat!" Ladybug shouted. "I think it's time for some help, can you hold off Crowd Control for a bit?" Chat didn't respond verbally, merely leaping at Crowd Control with his claws outstretched and face set in a snarl. Once he had Crowd Control pinned down, he looked to Ladybug and nodded sharply, causing Ladybug to begin the journey to find the help she spoke of. Alya had a feeling this would end with the Fox Miraculous in her possession for a while again, and she hoped it would so she could give her friends a good talking to.
.(Time Skip).
Alya looked up from the intense wrestling match between Chat Noir and Crowd Control when she heard the zwip of the yo-yo that heralded Ladybug's return. Ladybug landed neatly in front of Alya, turning to where the blogger was crouched, filming Chat Noir and Crowd Control. Alya nearly fell over when Ladybug met her curious gaze, and she knew what would happen next. Ladybug proved her right by holding out the small hexagonal box that Alya knew held a Miraculous. She carefully set up her phone stand (a gift from her older sister, Nora) well enough away from the fight that her phone had no risk of being damaged but close enough to film the action, and held her hand out with a mixture of excitement and reverence. The small box was deposited into her palm, and she eagerly cracked the lid open and joyfully watched as Trixx spiralled out in orange light. Alya clasped the necklace on with a grin, and called out the phrase that turned plain old Alya Cesaire to the foxy heroine Rena Rouge.
Rena leapt into the fray following Ladybug, and fought hard against Crowd Control. Ladybug shouted a plan out between heavy hits being exchanged. Rena leapt out of the way, preparing her flute for the illusion that Ladybug's plan required. She played the note that would bring the illusion to life and flicked her flute in the direction of Crowd Control, unleashing the illusion and letting Ladybug take over. Ladybug snatched the ball cap off of Crowd Control, tearing the bill from the rest of the hat, leaving a small black butterfly to flutter out. Ladybug popped her yo-yo opened and snatched the insect out of the air, a few moments later releasing a purified white butterfly. Rena moved out of the shot she knew her phone was set up to capture and around to where the phone lay, stopping the recording before stepping back to where Ladybug had just released the days Lucky Charm, the swarm of magic ladybugs flying through the city as Ladybug and Chat fist-bumped.
The fist-bump was interrupted by the insistent beeping of all three Miraculous, and Ladybug and Chat made to leap away, but Rena grabbed them both firmly by the arms and dragged them into a nearby alcove, glancing around to make sure there was no one. Thankfully the akuma victim had wandered off, presumably to try and find the brunette he had been threatening earlier. Rena turned back to Chat and Ladybug, eyes blazing, causing the pair to flinch. The only sounds for a few moments were Rena's heavy breathing and the insistent beeps of the three Miraculous.
"Rena Rouge...?" Ladybug said uncertainly. "What's this all about?" At that moment, Rena's - Alya's - patience snapped like a frayed piece of string. She turned away, taking a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm herself.
"This," she ground out sharply, "is an attempt to get you to take me more seriously as a partner. I don't see why Chat Noir can't know my identity when you do, and when you know each other outside the masks!" Ladybug flinched back, and Chat had curiosity overcome his annoyance with his inability to escape the alcove when Rena was blocking the exit. He looked between the two girls with eyes wide, unwilling to get between them but also curious enough that he did, slipping in front of Ladybug and staring down Rena.
"First, sneaky fox, how do you know if we know each others identity? Secondly, what does it matter if I know you or not? It's not like I have to know everything about you to work with you." One of Rena's ears flicked downwards, a sign the Chat recognized as building irritation towards him. Rena's retort was heavily sarcastic and biting.
"First, kitty, I saw you and Ladybug transforming after the fight that had you both acting like each other. Secondly, it matters because don't think the rest of Paris didn't notice your teamwork with Ladybug improve after that!" The beeping of the Miraculous grew more intense, before three flashes of light filled the alcove. Once all three of them had swiped the red, orange and green afterimages from their eyes, Alya rounded on her friends with a renewed frustration.
"And," she hissed, "don't think I didn't notice you making goo-goo eyes at each other in class when you thought no one was looking. By the way, everyone was looking! Why do you think Chloe's been worse than normal lately?" Marinette and Adrien both wilted under her glare, but Marinette recovered first, pulling herself up to her full height and striding forward to poke Alya in the chest, right above where the fox tail pendant fell.
"Alya, why didn't you tell me that you'd seen that?" Marinette said, her expression showing that she had been hurt by the accusations that Alya had hurled at her and Adrien. Alya sighed deeply and turned slightly away from Marinette.
"I wanted you to trust me enough to tell me. I guess that wasn't going to happen," she said sadly, taking the necklace off and handing it to Marinette. "If you're not trusting me enough to tell me something important like that, I guess you don't really need a third partner." Marinette watched sadly as Alya left the alcove with her head hanging down. Adrien was the one who took the initiative in this situation, starting to chase after Alya.
"Alya! Wait!" Adrien shouted, managing to snag Alya's shoulder and spin her to face him. "I know it's not like that. Marinette has been worrying this whole time about whether or not you should know about our identities now that you know how important it is to keep them a secret, and whether she should tell you we've been sort of going out. I understand your frustration, I've been telling her that you'd understand both things, but you know Mari. She'll stress over everything and work herself up to worst case scenarios," he huffed a breath when he finished, locking his green eyes with Alya's hazel ones. Alya turned her gaze away with a sigh, only to see Marinette standing behind Adrien, holding the necklace out towards Alya, her gaze held firmly towards the ground. Alya sighed again, before stepping around Adrien and gathering her friend into a hug.
"Okay girl, I get it. You're good at working yourself to the worst case, but I hope this isn't the worst case. You're not getting rid of me, I'm just a little hurt that you didn't trust me enough to tell me right away." Alya let Marinette out of the hug and held her friend at arms length with a grin. Marinette was starting to tear up as Alya gently took the necklace that she was holding limply and hooked it back on. Marinette gave Alya a watery smile, before the group of three all gathered into a hug, and then broke off smiling and laughing before Adrien interrupted the now-cheerful moment.
"Ms. Bustier and the rest of the class are probably wondering where we are," he said. Alya smirked and wiggled her phone in his direction, so he corrected himself. "Okay, the class is probably wondering where Marinette and I are." This caused Marinette to squeak and dart in the direction of the evacuation route to catch up with the rest of the class, followed by Adrien moving in the same direction at a more sedate pace.
Alya, meanwhile, made an 'All Clear' call post on the Ladyblog, and posted the video of the fight against Crowd Control, before following her two friends, her frayed patience finally restored to it's usual level.
The end. (For real this time XD)