The TV was droning on downstairs, still talking about the stone monsters and the events of the previous day. Marinette was staring into the mirror, watching her hand convulse as she reached towards the earrings in her ears. As she poured all her concentration into willed her hand to move, a twittering laugh was coming from that horrid little bug. She had learned to hate that laugh in a span of a night.

"You idiot! You can't them off! You accepted them! There's a bit of the Black Lady in you now, and you can't do anything she doesn't want you to." Tikki giggled.

"What use do your fancy words and disappearing act do then?" Marinette growled at the kwami, still trying to keep her focus on the mirror, but failing. Her resolve had been crumbling away bit by bit the whole night. The kwami had not let her sleep a wink.

"All those do is trigger your transformation into her. And I'm here to make sure you don't do anything naughty while the Black Lady is in your subconscious. But we're bonded too! So if you don't mind, I would really appreciate it if you said 'Spots on' for me, and we can go fix this mess!"

The little creature smiled sweetly again, and Marinette felt her jaw work to open, and her lips work to form those two words. She was able to shake out of the feeling though, and after staring at the mirror for a second more, she sighed, and let her hand flop to the top of the vanity. Then she grabbed her bag and scampered downstairs, off to school.

A block away, Marinette heard twittering in her backpack, and looked inside. There sat the kwami, giggling to herself. Immediately, Marinette threw the bag away from herself. Then, upon seeing the curious glances she was given, she blushed, smiled too wide, and picked it up again. As she continued towards the school, she heard Tikki whisper in her ear.

"You don't want to attract too much attention! People might ask questions. And that can go nowhere good."


By the time Marinette had made it into class, everyone else was already in their seats. The first period passed rather quickly. Then Marinette made sure to dump her bag in her locker and lock it before she went off on her own. And around that time, Alya sidled up to her.

"Hey girl? How ya' been? What do you think of what happened yesterday? Seems weird that we're back in school already, doesn't it? Not even a day off because of supervillain destruction."

Marinette shrugged meekly, and glanced away.

Alya grinned at her anyways. "Well, I saw all of what happened first hand, and no matter what the bullies at this school say, Ivan is a hero. That "Black Lady" and her Plague Pet were there to destroy the city, to solidify their rule. Every bit of damage was because of them, and Strongheart was fighting them! He was keeping them back for all of us. And I, I already have a blog against them."

Marinette's head popped up. "Are you sure that's a good idea? From what I heard, the two of them seemed pretty seriously evil… I wouldn't mess with them if I were you."

Alya's eyes softened. "Girl, I understand what's bringing you down. You're afraid! We all are. But we have people to stand up and protect us. And it's important to spread the word against them too."

The two slowed down and watched Ivan across the way, as he was being surrounded by students, questioning him, praising him, or otherwise. Then Chloe came in and spoke up and ruined it all.

"Oh hey, Pebbles. I know the news is making you out to seem like a decent person, but we all know the truth. Once a monster, always a monster. You're worse than those other two who showed up."

Ivan glared, and then pushed through the students surrounding him. Marinette ran off to see if he was okay. And then Alya walked up to Chloe to berate her. But the blonde girl was too distracted, upon seeing who walked through the door.


Marinette had to swerve through a few hallways before she found Ivan, sitting on the floor, his back to the wall. He was looking at a piece of paper. Marinette frowned for a moment, and then a painful memory of the fight reminded her.

That must be paper he was holding when he was… akumatized? Is that it?

Slowly, Marinette approached him, and slid down the wall next to him. "Hey Ivan."

He glared lightly at her, which she guessed was a good start. "What do you want."

"Nothing, I just… All the stuff Chloe says is stupid. You shouldn't listen to her at all. Yesterday, you were the hero Ivan. You stood up against tyrants, and stood up for what you believed in. That's so powerful, and so important! Other people have no idea what they're talking about."

Ivan gave her a less annoyed look. "You really think so?"

Marinette nodded firmly. "Yes. I swear what you're doing is right. And you can't give up the fight! Something happened to you, and it gave you the ability to fight back. Always stand up for yourself Ivan. Do what your heart tells you to do. That's super important."

Ivan smiled softly, and then got up and walked back to class. There was fire in his heart again. Marinette watched him go before getting up herself. Then, she heard a soft voice nearby.

"So, I hear Alya might be getting into trouble soon…"

She turned rapidly, and saw Tikki fluttering nearby. All bits of courage Marinette had were drained from her system, and she hurried back to class, leaving the bug fluttering in the corridor by herself.


"Adrikins, you made it!" Chloe squealed. "But you should know that school starts an hour earlier than this. I know, unfair, but there's like rules and stuff that you have to follow if you want to be here."

Adrien rubbed his neck. "Yeah, sorry. Me and my dad had… to talk over a couple things before he let me come. Uh, what are you doing?"

Adrien watched Chloe put a wad of gum on the seat across from the one she had shown to be his. He glanced to his desk mate, but the kid just glared slightly and looked back towards his phone.

Chloe looked back at him and grinned. "Oh nothing. The brats that sit here just need to learn a little respect, is all."

Adrien furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm not sure that's necessary…"

Chloe slid into the seat behind him and shrugged lightly. "Watch and learn, Adrikins. This is school culture."

Adrien ignored her and leaned over to remove the gum. Then, suddenly he heard an indignant cry behind him. He turned and blushed immediately.

Marinette frowned at him. "What are you doing?"

Chloe and Sabrina giggled from behind the two of them. Marinette turned to look at them and then sighed. "Of course. You're Chloe's new friend, aren't you? I don't need this right now. Please, move."

She pushed past Adrien and laid out a handkerchief on the seat, and then spoke worriedly to Alya about her blogging idea again. Adrien's blubbering did nothing to convince her he was trying to help, so he went back to his own seat, and the kid sitting next to him looked up.

"You really aren't that bad, are you dude? Why didn't you say it was Chloe alone?"

Adrien shrugged. "I was just trying to help. I can't just throw Chloe under the bus though. She's been my only friend, since we were kids."

The other kid smiled. "Well, I'm Nino, and you have a new friend now."


Butterfly sensed the new strength in Ivan almost immediately, and sent out the akuma.

It flew into the same piece of paper Ivan was still carrying, and Butterfly's voice echoed in Ivan's head.

"Hello Strongheart. I see that the Black Lady has not been able to take away your strength yet. Use this opportunity to find her and Plague Cat, and take their disastrous away, freeing your city of evil!"


The first thing they heard was destruction outside. Most of the students raced to the windows. Chloe had the gall to say that Ivan was "at it again". The teachers told them to stay inside where it was safe, but barely anyone listened. Chloe shrugged and made this an excuse for her to leave halfway through the school day. Adrien felt an odd tug towards the locker room. Alya began to race out of the classroom, after Strongheart. Marinette tried to stop her.

"Alya, you can't follow him, you'll get in danger!"

"Girl, don't worry, he's the hero! Anyways, I'll need this for my blog." She grinned, and then was off. Marinette frowned, but grabbed her backpack and followed swiftly after.

As Adrien approached the locker room, he heard a small voice from in his locker. "Hey kid, come over here."

He opened it quickly, and saw Plagg, sitting on his bag and eating his lunch.

"How in the world did you get here?" he yelped.

"Doesn't matter. What does matter is that the fun has just begun, and we better get out there, and help while we can until the Black Lady shows up."

"What? No way! You can't make me transform again!" Adrien backed away and slammed the locker shut.

Plagg phased through the material in an instant. "Oh, I can. C'mon kid, just say the words."

Adrien's throat spasmed, and his lips moved without his intent. "Claws out," he croaked, and he was encased in green light once more.

Chloe had made her way out to the street, rather uncaring of what was going on. She called her dad on her phone, and asked for him to send a car to pick her up. She used her best whiny-frightened voice, and he gave in in a second.

Then, Strongheart, only a few blocks away, spotted her, and came back towards the school.

"Chloe. You're just as bad as the rest of them. I wonder if the supervillains will come running if one of their own is captured."

And with that, the hulking monster scooped up the shrieking girl, and kept making his way through Paris.


Marinette trotted along the sidewalks, looking for Alya. She had not seen which way her friend had turned, and had now lost her. Then, she heard a yelp. Marinette's eyes widened, and she rushed through an alley to an adjacent street. There was Alya, getting pinned behind a car that was tossed aside by one of those awakened stone beings that served Strongheart. It seemed like it didn't notice Alya at all. And she was getting crushed.

"A horrible situation, yes? I can help, you know," Tikki echoed in Marinette's ear.

The girl jumped and turned on the kwami. She glowered. "Why would you help Alya?"

Tikki grinned. "Well, I wouldn't be the one helping Alya. The Black Lady would. I'm sure we can both convince her that it's the right thing to do… Just say the words, and your friend is safe."

"No!" Marinette yelped. "I don't trust you."

The little bug shrugged. "Well, all's fine by me. I don't care if your friend gets hurt. But she definitely will, unless you transform. You have no power right now. The Black Lady does."

Marinette looked towards Alya again. Then she looked at her feet, and her last bit of resistance fell away. "Fine. Spots on." She said the words completely willingly.

Alya hardly noticed who tossed the car away. She was coughing on the ground for a few seconds instead. And when she looked up, both the stone being and her savior were gone.


"Hey Kitty. Don't feel like joining in on the fight?"

Plague Cat swirled around, and saw the grinning face of the Black Lady facing him. He looked back towards Strongheart, who was carrying a screaming girl towards the Eiffel Tower still.

Plague Cat shrugged. "That pile of rock may think we'll save 'one of our own', but he's wrong. Anyways, I was waiting for you, M'Lady. You always know what to do."

The Black Lady grinned wider. "And indeed I do. I have some intel that 'Strongheart' over there has his big, strong heart set on someone. Heard it through the grapevine, from some classmates of his. And there she is!"

The Black Lady extended her finger to point a few blocks down, where a girl wearing a pink bandana over colorful hair was running after Strongheart too.

As always, the Black Lady could feel Plague Cat's grin. "Kidnapping?"

"Kidnapping," she affirmed.

Quickly, they extended their weapons and swung down to where Mylène was, surrounding her. The girl stopped short and paled. "Uh… hi?"

Plague Cat grabbed her in an instant, and they both swung towards the Eiffel Tower, where Strongheart was waiting.


Strongheart had climbed halfway up the tower. The police had surrounded him. The mayor was demanding his daughter back. Strongheart shrugged, and dropped her.

And then, the Black Lady appeared out of nowhere, and caught the girl. She brought Chloe back to her father.

"Only because you're the mayor. I expect to have a chat with you soon. Also, you might want to call off the police. I don't care about their lives, as much as I care about your daughter's," The Black Lady smirked, and André nodded, eyebrows furrowed, and expression reluctant.

The Black Lady walked towards the tower again, with smooth confidence. "That did nothing for you, Strongheart. And now might be the time that we tell you, we have a hostage of our own."

She pointed behind her, and Strongheart's eyes narrowed in on Plague Cat, standing far across the way on a roof, but waving enthusiastically, with a girl by his side.

"Mylène!" Strongheart roared. "You monsters!"

The Black Lady laughed. "I've never found a more perfect example of the kettle calling the pot black."

Strongheart huffed. "I'm here to free Paris of your tyranny!"

"Is that what Butterfly told you?" The Black Lady shook her head. "You're barely a match for us. Lucky Charm!"

And with that, a hang-glider fell from the sky. The Black Lady grabbed it, kicked off from the ground with an extra amount of force, and flew back towards Plague Cat and Mylène. She heard Strongheart calling for his armies of rock-monsters, but he was too late.

Plague Cat extended his baton and raced towards the Eiffel Tower at the Black Lady's cue. The Black Lady grabbed Mylène and flew across the area surrounding the tower. As Plague Cat attacked Strongheart, the Black Lady came closer to the tower. Then, when Plague Cat was captured in one of Strongheart's fists, the Black Lady dropped Mylène.

Strongheart sprung from the tower towards her, opening up his other fist, that still contained that piece of paper. The Black Lady dove for it, and as Strongheart caught Mylène, the Black Lady tore the paper in half. The butterfly flittered out, but she caught it this time with her yo-yo. When she released it, it was white. She grinned. "Bye-bye little butterfly."

Then she tossed her yo-yo in the air. "Disastrous Ladybug!"

The stone beings all around turned back to people. But the damage did not repair itself, and Ivan, who was once again human, put his hand to his head and had a gloomy expression. Mylène came closer to him, but he turned away.

"You know, you were really brave," she whispered.

Ivan shook his head. "I don't feel like fighting anymore."

From off on the side, the Black Lady and Plague Cat grinned together. Then they were gone.


The next morning, Adrien was greeted by his father, who at first scolded him for disobeying him the previous day, but then let him go to school.

Adrien couldn't really feel excited. The previous day the news had announced that the mayor of Paris would, for the time being, cooperate with the Black Lady and Plague Cat, and looked forward to discussing with them in detail what should be done. Plagg told him that that talk would be sooner rather than later, but the kwami left him alone for the time being.

Marinette felt just as glum. Alya looked at her worriedly when they sat down, and suggested they move seats, and show their classroom supervillain who's boss. Marinette did not agree. When Adrien entered the classroom, she looked at him blandly. She was still frustrated about the previous day, but she didn't have the energy to glare. He looked tired too.

After school, Marinette was slow to leave. And when she got to the door, she realized it was raining. Of course. She sighed.

And then, an umbrella appeared at her shoulder. "Hey."

She turned to look. There was Adrien, offering her his umbrella. He smiled softly. "I really am sorry about yesterday. I swear, I was only trying to help. I'm not used to any of this."

Marinette blushed and looked to the side. "It's… it's fine. There's so… so much else going on right now. A sma- small incident like that doesn't matter."

Adrien's face darkened slightly. "Yeah. Things are… scary right now. I don't know what to do. I feel like I could do something, but I just… can't."

Marinette could only manage a "Yeah."

He looked her way again, and his face lost its darkness. He smiled and offered the umbrella to her again. "Here, take it. It's pouring. I'll be fine, but I think you have a farther way to go then me."

Marinette studied him for a second more, and then carefully grabbed the stem of the umbrella. Once Adrien let go, it suddenly closed on her. She heard his bell-ring of a laugh, and she chuckled too, peeking out from under the umbrella at him.

He grinned wider, and blushed. "See you tomorrow."

Marinette blushed harder. "Se- see you to-to-morrow to-too."

Adrien was already making his way down the steps towards his car. He turned back to look at Marinette before climbing in, and rubbed the back of his neck, blushing brighter. "What a girl," he whispered to himself.

As Marinette watched his car drive away, she knew she was in love.


A/N: Aloholaha, how you guys doing? I hope you enjoyed the second chapter, and sorry it took a bit longer than a week! As always, I kept getting caught up in things. Anyways, I hope to finish out another chapter by Friday, but if I don't see you then, it's gonna be till the 22nd, unfortunately. I have another family member in low health, and me and my mom are heading to Canada so we can visit her. We want to see her before/if anything happens. But, I will be writing during that time, and hopefully I'll have two-fold of the work done, so I can upload extra when I get back. And by the way, do you guys like the better cover? I drew it myself. I have some references for BL and PC's outfits, but I wanted you guys to get a taste of what I had in mind.

Anyways, comments are awesome, and I'll see you all later!