Here it is, Part 2 of the talent show! Next up is Lila's Birthday!

About 11 days later...

Adrien paced back and forth in his room. Marinette had modeled her dress in a picture Alya had sent him, and Plagg was convinced that Adrien was WAY too into anime. Why? He was pretty sure that red stuff on those tissues wasn't Kool-Aid or ketchup.

"Calm down kid!" the cat kwami yelled, sitting on his shoulder. "Cat got your tongue?"

"I... I DON'T KNOW!" Adrien said. "This is different from photo shoots! Those are a walk through hell! This is my chance of freedom from that! Its nerve racking!"

"Well, go over the song!" said Plagg. "For like the 37th time or something."

Adrien ended up playing the song for the 37th time that night. After that, he heard Nathalie knocking on his door.

"Adrien?" the woman said. "It's time to go."

"Coming!" he responded. Plagg flew inside his suit jacket, and Adrien was escorted to the car by his father's Personal Assistant. The figure he saw more parent in than in his own father.

"Gabriel didn't even give an excuse," said the businesswoman solemnly. "He just said he would not attend."

Adrien sighed, but did he really expect anything different? No, not really. He followed Nathalie to the car where The Gorilla was waiting.

"Can I speed?" The Gorilla asked. Adrien's mood perked up at this request.

"Yes please!" said Adrien. Nathalie grabbed on to the handle for dear life as The Gorilla drove off at about 93 MPH. Cue Paris' second echoing scream that month.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Nathanael adjusted his tie in the mirror. Shockingly, his hand healed very quickly, but he wanted to do something fun before the show. His mom had given him about 20 minutes to do something before she was dressed for tonight. Suddenly, Bliitzer, the wolf kwami, flew out of his pocket.

"Lookin' sharp bro," Bliitzer said, looking at his master. "Wanna do a quick expedition?"

"Where?" the tomato asked. "I don't have anywhere to be."

"Let's see how well Chloe takes to losing ONE piece of hair," the kwami said cheekily.

"That is so... BRILLIANT!" exclaimed Nathanael. "Bliitzer, HOWL ON!"

Bliitzer then entered Nathanael's specialized wolf belt buckle, and the teen was slid into gray boots and tight white spandex, and his hands were encased by white gloves that split where his blades came out. A gray mask came around his eyes, and wolf ears popped up on top of his head and a bushy tail appeared behind him.

This was gonna be fun...

At Le Grand Paris Hotel...

Chloe Bourgeois looked at herself in the mirror, and gawked at her own beauty. She was in a tight black dress with red polka dots, and with matching black pumps and a rose in her hair, she knew this talent show would be a steal. Not one individual had such a holy voice as hers. (according to her own agenda...)

But as if this day couldn't get any better, Lupus popped up in her bedroom. He was undoubtedly, according to her, the hottest Miraculous holder.

"You make me want to howl," Lupus purred. "Please tell me howl you get this look..."

"Oh my, your flattering moi," said Chloe. "I could see you after I get back with my prize, couldn't I?"

"Maybe," Lupus said. "But first, I need to take care of something..."

He leaned in, and Chloe thought she was about to get a kiss from her favorite superhero (under Ladybug), but instead...

SLICK!

She felt a pain only a girl as good as her would feel. He had cut out a single strand of her hair.

"It was making you look bad," Lupus whispered. It was a lie, the thing probably held her ultra-thick skull together at this rate. "A girl needs to look her best, right?"

Lupus then left, and Chloe was left in shock and... awe. Lupus had cut her hair to perfection. It was the third scream that echoed across Paris in a month's time span.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Marinette took another peek from behind the stage curtains at the audience. She could see her parents, Lila, Nino, Alya, Juleka, Rose, Nathanael, Mrs. Bustier, and Nathalie all in the same row. Kim was behind the back stage curtain, fulfilling his commentator duties. Max, Mylene, and Ivan were camera operators for CD purposes if someone wanted one. Alix and Sabrina were still overhead, managing the lights.

"I'm not scared! I'm not scared! I'm not scared!" she recited this thought over and over in her head, but to no avail. She was utterly terrified.

As she studied her tap routine once more for the 37th time, she bumped into Adrien, who sported a black suit that was from his most recent photo shoot.

"Hey Marinette!" he said happily. "You look... Wow... You look amazing!"

It wasn't until now that he noticed her true beauty. Her hair was out of their usual pigtails, and was now in flowing curls that no one could compete with. She had on bright cherry red lipstick, and he had never wanted to kiss her so badly. Her sleeveless dress went from her shoulders down to a little way below her thighs, and those beautiful, gorgeous legs of hers that held the key to her tap dancing skills were so perfect. And he would have a front row view of it all.

"T-T-Thank you Adrien!" she squeaked. "I-I can't wait f-f-for our performance!"

"Me neither," said Adrien. He then winked at her, then left to go talk to Kim about something. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

It was Chloe.

"Chloe, please don't ruin this for me!" Marinette blurted out. She then heard a horrific and new sound. A genuine, honest laugh came from Chloe's mouth.

"I'm in too good of a mood!" she said. "Lupus, y'know, the superhero! He gave me a style-up!"

"Oh, really?" Marinette said. From the looks of it, nothing had changed from her Instagram posts that she had bragged about SOOOOOOOOO much.

"Yep!" the girl responded. She then walked away, but Marinette knew about the trap door and where it was.

And to Chloe's ego's disappointment, she was going to tap dance right around and on top of it. Suddenly, Kim's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Alright folks, are we ready for one heck of a ride?!"

Everyone in the audience applauded.

"Great, because it's gonna be awesome tonight! Okay, first up is turntable master, Nino Lahiffe!"

Yet again, the audience applauded. Nino raced up on stage, and managed to get Jagged Stone dancing as his challenge. The acts continued on, but there were only a few she paid attention to.

Finally, her cue came over the microphone.

"Well everyone, I can say we've had a wonderful night, haven't we? Well don't leave just yet, we've still got one more act to go through! Ladies and gentleman, give it up for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who will be doing a tap piece, and Adrien Agreste, her piano accomplice! They'll be performing a cover of the hit single from Jagged Stone, "Miraculous!"!

Marinette and Adrien walked out, and Marinette saw all of her friends and family, including Mrs. Bustier and Nathalie, standing up in her honor. She couldn't stop smiling...

"Well, here goes nothing," she muttered, tapping into position.

However, Alix turned on the wrong light, instead focusing on only Adrien.

"Huh...so that's what it feels like to be in the spotlight," he muttered. Everyone heard him and broke out into laughter.

"Okay, fixed it!" Sabrina called from up on the light rack.

"Thanks!" the two called.

And then, Marinette shuffled off into her tap dance. She wasn't going for grace, she was going for sound. As the light from the stage glistened off of her shoes like sparkles, she closed her eyes like she was tapping to survive. She even went en pointe for a minute, tap dancing on her toes without a sweat being broke.

But the best part was at the middle of the song, and not even Adrien knew about this. She un-clipped her belt buckle, not forgetting to keep tap dancing while doing so, which was actually a yo-yo, and started tapping around with it like a lasso. She jumped through it, twirled it around, and did Ladybug's signature "THWIP!" as well. From her quick peeks at the audience, she could tell a few things. Mrs. Bustier was shocked and open-mouthed, Nino and Nathanael were amazed, Lila and Alya were applauding her and shouting, "You go girl!", her parents were very happily surprised, and Nathalie looked to be very impressed.

And Adrien... She could swear she saw him mutter a curse word out of amazement. He still managed to keep pressing the piano keys, even though his eyes were mostly focused on Marinette. But then, 2 minutes later, it was over.

And the audience roared with applause. Not just that, but the judges did too. Alya and Lila were jumping ecstatically, Nino and Nathanael were making as much noise as possible and high five-ing, her parents marveled at their daughter while applauding, Madame Bustier looked to be so proud her cheeks might split open, Rose and Juleka had tears in their eyes, and Nathalie showed a bigger smile than all of Gabriel's combined. Ever. And the camera managers were just smiling as well since they had expensive equipment under their care. And she heard Alix and Sabrina clapping above her. Suddenly, Kim's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Wow... That was... MIRACULOUS! Alright folks, now the judges will converse momentarily over who will win 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Be back shortly!"

The two teens took a bow before returning to backstage, and they felt amazing. Adrien would go as far to say that he had fallen for Marinette.

"That was amazing!" he said to her. "You did such a great job!"

"Thank you," she said happily, curtsying. She was now starting to sweat, and so was he, but thankfully there was a water machine nearby. But before she could move, she felt his arms encase her in a hug.

"Thank you for letting me do this," he whispered. "This was 10 million times better than a stupid photo shoot."

"Adrien," she said, hugging him back, "we can do this whole piano/tap thing anytime you want. Just call me first, okay?"

"Sure thing," he said. When the two broke apart, it caused them to lose a warmth that they felt in each other's presence.

"We need to hug a lot more," said Adrien, chuckling.

Marinette was SO on board with that idea...

Suddenly, Nino came charging in.

"DUDES!" he shouted. "They're about to reveal the winners!"

Adrien and Marinette suddenly heard Mr. Damocles' voice over a microphone at the judge's stand.

"Alright everyone," he began, "now we will unveil the winners of this annual talent show. In 3rd place, we have... Nino Lahiffe!"

Nino was very surprised, but he walked across the stage to the left side, waving to the applauding audience.

"And in second place, we have... Aurore Beauréal and Mireille Caquet with their ballet umbrella performance!"

Aurore and Mireille had since made up after the Kidz+ competition, since the job was quite boring. The two girls skipped bubbly across the stage to the right side, waving to the audience.

Then, the envelope came out. It was time to unveil the 1st place contestant. Everyone held their breath. Well, except Chloe. She expected a landslide victory for herself.

"And the winner... of this years talent show is...

Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste!"

Marinette looked at Adrien, who was in as much shock as she was. Everyone backstage was clapping for her and him, and the two walked across the stage and saw the audience was roaring with applause as they took center stage. Chloe was screaming in protest, but no one gave a damn about her.

"The prizes for our 2nd and 3rd places will be 50 euro gift cards, and two months free tuition," Mr. Damocles said. "And for our 1st place contestants, they will receive 100 euro gift cards, 3 months free tuition. And Marinette, you will be able to be in Adrien's next photo shoot!"

Marinette's face lit up at his final words. She could see Adrien was smiling at her, and holding her hand. She wished to never let go.

"Let's give the acts a well deserved round of applause!" Mr. Damocles shouted. Once again, the audience roared with applause. Adrien and Nino bro-hugged, and Marinette shared a hug with the enthusiastic Aurore and Mireille. She then walked backstage with Adrien as the parents began to look for their children.

"That was... wow," Marinette muttered. "WE WON!"

"You were amazing!" Adrien exclaimed. "How would you not?"

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" she said.

"C'mere you," said Adrien, opening his arms. The two entered each other's embrace once more, but Adrien noticed something after they pulled away.

"Are you crying?" he asked.

"Happy tears," Marinette whispered.

Adrien just pulled her back into the hug they never wanted to end. Unknown to them, their classmates, Marinette's parents, Mrs. Bustier, and Nathalie were watching it all unfold with huge smiles on their faces. Alya had snapped a pic, and Nathanael was carefully drawing an outline for a future sketch.

Chloe returned home in tears. This was HER time! HER show! How did she lose to that MARINETTE?! Her voice was better than a million choirs!

And as if things couldn't get worse, Mockingbird appeared at her window. She was, according to Chloe, the WORST Miraculous holder.

"Lupus can't make it," Mockingbird said, "so I'm sufficing. Now, why are you crying?"

"I... I LOST A TALENT SHOW TO A GIRL WITH ZERO TALENT!" Chloe screamed. The ear-splitting-ness of her voice was worse than Mockingbird's bird-call.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Mockingbird said. "I was watching. But you gotta admit, the girl is one hell of a tap dancer."

"But... SHE'S AN AWFUL PERSON!" Chloe yelled. "I'M WONDERFUL!"

"Lemme stop you there," Mockingbird said, putting her hands on her hips. "I talked with Marinette personally, and she got on you and how you mistreat everyone. And I should know. I've personally seen and met a few of them, same story. Now look here. Ladybug AND Lupus will hear about your attitude if you don't stop, you hear me?"

Chloe didn't even respond, only shooing Mockingbird out.

"Bon voyage, bitch," Mockingbird muttered before taking to the skies.

Meanwhile...

Marinette's parents were hosting a party in the pastry basement for her friends, and Mrs. Bustier, Nathalie, and even The Gorilla tagged along. Everyone was enjoying a nice treat after the show, and the class had never tasted better croissants. After the party, though, everyone was leaving except Adrien. He was helping to clean up.

"Thank you Adrien," said Sabine. "I would love to have you as a regular customer."

"I think Marinette would too," said Tom, chuckling.

"Well, I'll try to get out of the house after school," he said.

Suddenly, Marinette came downstairs to tell her parents goodnight.

"Goodnight mom, night dad," she said. "Wait, Adrien?"

"See you tomorrow," Adrien said. He wrapped his arms around her, and made sure he enjoyed it. And Marinette enjoyed it too. Adrien then left for his car with Nathalie and The Gorilla waiting for him.

But then, as Marinette prepared to close her eyes, she remembered something.

Lila's birthday was in 2 weeks.

See you next chapter! :)