Marinette's plan to get back at Alya was simple, and beautiful. It required Alya to leave her bag on the floor for ten seconds, unwatched. Tikki then dove in, and snatched her phone. It took thirty seconds to change her ringtone, and place it back in her bag. The phone was at full volume.
Marinette did this in lunchtime, and waited until class for the second half of her plan.

Earlier in the week, Nino had been brainstorming quietly, muttering between his thoughts, and Marinette burst into laughter at one of his ideas. She agreed to help him then and there, as long as he helped her with her half of the same prank. After tying her laces together like that and no time for revenge, Marinette wasn't keen to work with Nino now. Yet they had put a lot of planning and preparation into this prank, and they were keen to put it into action.

Sneaking into the locker room, past the boys as they fenced, was far easier than they were expecting. They were so focused on their blades that they didn't notice a pair of strangers edging across the back of the room. Nino didn't ask why Marinette knew which locker belonged to Adrien already, because the answer would make her stammer, and they didn't have that time to waste.

"How do we unlock it?" He asked.

"Tikki? Please?" Marinette asked, sweetly.

"You got it girl!" Tikki grinned.

Usually she didn't like opening locks unless it was an emergency, but this was for a prank. For a hug from Wayzz. It would be worth it. She shot through the metal door, and unlocked it from the inside.

Plagg came zooming out after Tikki. "Hey - what are you-"

"Plagg I'll give you this is you keep your mouth shut and let us prank Adrien," Marinette held out a hunk of cheese.

Plagg eyed the camembert eagerly. It was the gooey kind. His favourite! Plagg didn't want to betray Adrien, but screw it, Adrien was going to lose, Plagg might as well get some cheese out of it.

"Deal!" He snatched the cheese eagerly, his mouth already watering. "Oh, beautiful love of my life! Cheese! And camembert at that!"

Tikki rolled her eyes. Plagg was easy to please. He shot back out of the way so Marinette and Nino could set up their prank in his locker. Marinette tied the turtle shell into place with ladybug ribbon. They wanted Adrien to know who had gotten him, after all.

"Does it work?" Marinette asked, uncertainly.

Nino balanced the shell carefully, and shut the locker door. He opened it, and the shell tipped forward, throwing its content - or lack of - on him.

Nino grinned. "Awesome!"

Marinette giggled. She was already flushing with nerve, and the adrenaline buzz was making it impossible to keep both of her feet on the ground at the same time. She handed Nino the bag that had won him a funny look from Pet Smart. It was worth it. Stifling their laughter, Marinette held the shell still, and Nino filled it. Then they balanced it in place again, and shut the locker.

"Plagg, hide, but don't knock the shell, ok?" Nino warned.

"This isn't my first prank," Plagg tutted.

Nino and Marinette were buzzing as they snuck back out. The fencers were on break now, and they were trying to hurry out without being noticed, against the edge of the wall.

"Hey! Nino, Marinette!"

As soon as Adrien called them, Nino shoved Marinette's shoulder urgently, and the pair of them started dashing towards the door, and went skidding out into the street. Before they were out and free, they had burst into laughter. Adrien heard the cackling echo as his friends sped out of the building.
He was faced with a dilemma. Either something here was boobytrapped, or he had foiled them before they could trap him.
Unfortunately, that left him rather paranoid as the fencing continued. He couldn't keep his eye on the blade because every flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye required his full sight, to see if it was dangerous or not. Adrien was hit four times in two minutes.

"FREE YOUR HEADS FROM THE CLOUDS AND RETURN IT TO THE BLADE, MR AGRASTE!"

"Sorry."

Almost immediately he was hit again.

"URGH, STOP!"

Adrien was lectured about the importance of focus and attention in fencing. It was something he was familiar with, but he just couldn't manage right now. The lesson ended without Adrien fighting again. He kept an eye out for any signs of strings or tape that suggested tampering. He had an awful feeling that he was going to find his clothes had gone missing.
Would they have taken his clothes?
Of course they would! He had heard Marinette. This was war.
Desperate to know if he still had clothes, Adrien yanked the locker door open hard and fast...

And tipped a deep shell full of cat nip right over him. Adrien screwed his eyes shut in surprise, and sneezed as some got up his nose. It covered his hair and his chest almost completely. Adrien shook his head to shake it free, and it fell down his shirt.

"Plagg-"

"Camembert."

"Of course."

loyalty was nothing if camembert was available. Adrien got changed into his normal clothes with only two coughing fits. He was certain that he still stank of cat nip, but there wasn't much he could do to change that. As he pulled his shoe on and tied it up tightly, he sat up and sniffed his shirt.

"At least it's better than camembert," he sighed.

Plagg did not agree, but given his recent betrayal, thought it was wise not to annoy Adrien further. Plagg slipped into Adrien's pocket, out of the way, and started brain storming how to get revenge on these two. Adrien pulled his bag onto his shoulder and headed out into the street.

"Here he comes!" Marinette whispered to Nino.

She was standing on his shoulders peering through a high window, to keep track of Adrien. Now Nino helped her down and rubbed his aching shoulder. Marinette was light, and Carapace had made him stronger, but it was instinct to rub where there would have been pain once. Both of them crouched out of sight, and grabbed the cat carrier they had with them. It had taken a great deal of time, effort, and bribery to lure in three strays, each of whom were itching to get out. They swiped their claws at Marinette's fingers as she unlocked the door. She gasped at how vicious they were. Not because she was surprised – stray cats are defensive so they can survive – but because she was beginning to worry about the outcome of this prank. If they attacked her, what would they do to Adrien?

"What's the hold up?!" Nino hissed.

"sorry," Marinette muttered.

The cats had to be released at some point, they might as well get some joy from it. Nino leapt back as the door swung open and blurs of fur darted out into their escape. Now there were at least three cats on the loose around a boy covered in cat nip.

When the first one started following him he didn't mind. He smiled and laughed and even bent down to stroke it. When the second one started following him, he looked surprised, and a little bewildered, but knelt down to stroke that one too. Each cat was a little suspicious, given their recent interactions with humans, but this boy smelt delightful. They were fascinated by the scent, and let him stroke them, purely out of curiosity.
By the time the third started following him, he had put two and two together.
Adrien huffed and started walking again. He wasn't going to allow a prank to make him late to school. Not that it wasn't difficult. These three cats wound themselves around his legs, sniffing and nipping at him and each other. The first two times they had attacked one another, Adrien had stopped to try and break it up. now he had scratches to prove it.

"just keep walking," Plagg advised, "they'll get distracted and leave you alone soon."

Just to make sure, Adrien took a slightly longer route, past the fish mongers. Every time he thought they had finally gotten distracted, they came blundering right back around his feet. Then another cat crept from an alley to follow him. This one had friends. He now had MORE cats to deal with. Adrien got back to school with a herd of cats racing around his ankles. The sight drew attention to him, and within minutes there were too many people staring and taking pictures for Adrien to try transforming into Chat Noir to get away. He had to walk all the way, only to find Nino was waiting on the steps, recording him and his minions, so it would never be forgotten. Marinette waved at him, grinning like a Cheshire… you get the picture.

"You!" Adrien cried, spitefully.

"Me!" Nino beamed back.

"You?!" Marinette challenged.

Nino hung his head a little sheepishly, "us."

Marinette gave a firm nod and beamed, "us!"

"I'm so going to get you back for this!" Adrien warned.

Marinette shrugged. "Get in line."

"I will my lady. I'll be there when you least expect it," Adrien warned.

Marinette believed him. He and Chat Noir had managed to sneak up on her time and time again. That bell didn't stop him going unnoticed. Maybe he was actually a ninja. Either way she'd have to be on high alert around him now. well, higher. She'd been on high alert around him ever since she'd found out who he actually was. it had strained their friendship slightly at first. Now they seemed to be closer than ever. Although this pranking could either make or break any chance of them ever going beyond that.
hence the higher high alert.
Marinette felt slightly sick. Tikki laid a hand gently on Marinette's arm. it was as if she could read Marinette's mind sometimes.

"don't worry, you two are perfect for each other, pranks won't get in the way," she promised.

By the time they settled back into class, each of them were convinced they were going to be the next to be a victim. Adrien focused his attention on his plan for getting Nino back. He didn't have a lot of feasible ideas, but he was determined to do something great.
Suddenly the quiet of the classroom was interrupted by the loudest burst of song they had ever heard. Poor Rose leapt out of her skin at the shock of it.

WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?!

Alya gasped. "What the fu-"

"So that's what the fox says," Marinette muttered, unable to hide her grin.

Alya looked down at her bag, seeing her phone flashing. Marinette's picture grinned back at her, shining brightly as the song continued to fill the classroom. caller ID was such a snitch. Alya's eyes widened behind her glasses and stared at Marinette in alarm.

"You did this?!"

"You told me to up my game," Marinette pointed out.

"I did... and you did..." Alya muttered.

Her phone continued screaming, THE SECRET OF THE FO-O-OX, ANCIENT MYSTERY! DE-E-EP IN THE WO-O-O-D WE KNOW YOURE HI-DING!

Adrien and Nino turned to grin at Alya in surprise. She was turning red with embarrassment as she tried to subtly mute her phone. Chole rolled her eyes and tutted. Those idiots were going to be caught at any minute. The teacher looked around the room and figured out quickly where the music was coming from. She didn't have the patience to deal with this right now.

"Whoever is playing that ridiculous song, please turn it off, and remember that phones aren't allowed in the classroom. However, since there's five minutes to the end of the day, we'll say no more about it."

Alya reached into her bag and switched off the phone so it no longer sang anything. The teacher moved on without mentioning it again, and allowed her to leave without punishment. Now that the embarrassment and alarm had faded, Alya was impressed that Marinette had managed to get her phone without her noticing. Almost as if she'd done it before. Alya grinned mischievously at Marinette.

"I'm gonna get you back so bad."

"So am I," Adrien warned.

Marinette glanced over at Nino, for support, and all she got back was a raised eyebrow and a plotting look. Marinette gulped. Nino was yet to prank her too. All of them had plans, and she had done all of hers today…

This weekend was looking more and more dangerous.