Hey all. Sorry about the late update, writer's block hit me pretty hard this time. Hopefully the next chapter will be the last one, then I'll work on other stuff.
Thanks for sticking around guys. :)
Yet again, I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or the lyrics. Those belong to Thomas Astruc and Cage The Elephant.
Marinette looked at herself in the mirror with Alya standing next to her, gawking about how good she looked (although she thought Alya looked better), and how Michelle had literally given Marinette the dress without any catch. Marinette only said it went good with her tap shoes, which Alya agreed with, but it didn't stop her from complimenting her up and down. Don't even get started on when she got done with her dance sample.
"You seriously need to teach a tap class," Alya said, after applauding the girl. "I think everyone in our class, barring Chloe, would at least give it a chance! I know I would."
"Rose and Juleka already told me that they would give it a shot," said Marinette. "I don't know about Lila, though. Don't get me started on Adrien either."
Over the two week practice course, Alya noticed that Marinette had grown more comfortable around Adrien. The two had been laughing at each other's slip ups (all in good fun, not in a shaming way), joke with one another, and her stuttering and nervousness came back up less, but it was still there in the theater sessions. Her crush on him had only grown stronger after really getting to know him like never before. And from what she heard, Michelle and Nathalie were nicer than a perfectly trained dog. The Gorilla... she had no words. the man was a mystery in itself.
Anyway, Marinette was sitting on her bed, changing shoes so her others were in perfect dancing condition, as her parents had already gone to the theater, but Alya interrupted her.
"No need to change shoes, a ride is coming," she said.
"Who?" Marinette asked.
Then, they heard an engine come to a stop, and a bell ding downstairs as a familiar feminine voice (to Marinette) called out to her.
"Marinette? Are you there?"
"Yes Michelle!" said Marinette, walking down with Alya hot on her heels. When they got down, Alya gasped at how comfortable Marinette was with Michelle.
"You must be Alya," said Michelle. "Marinette has told me a lot of very good things about you."
"R-Really?" Alya stuttered.
"Yes," Michelle responded. "Do you ladies need a ride?"
"Oh," began Marinette, "I think we-"
"Will definitely take a ride!" Alya interjected. "Thank you so much Mrs. Agreste."
"Please, call me Michelle," said the woman. "We'll be waiting outside if you girls need to grab anything."
"I think we're good," said Alya. "Come on Mari!"
She then tugged Marinette out to the limo with Michelle walking behind the two, and inside were Adrien and Nino. Adrien and Nino's suits were almost identical, but Adrien had a solid black suit, pants, shoes, and shirt with a red tie on while Nino had on the same stuff, except his shirt was a dark green and his tie was black. He was also sporting a huge brown hat.
"Hey ladies," said Nino. "Need a ride?"
"Sure could use one," answered Alya.
"T-thank you Adrien! You too Nino" Marinette said.
"Ain't no sweat," said Adrien.
"So, Mari said she might hold a dance class," said Alya, despite Marinette's protests. "You guys wanna join?"
"Dancing ain't my thing, sorry," said Nino.
"Marinette actually did teach me a few tap moves," said Adrien. "But dear God, I am terrible at dancing."
He then proceeded to tell Nino and Alya of how his one ballet class resulted in him being scarred for life, and all his friends could do was wince.
"-And she told me to call her," Adrien finished. "I was seven! This was eight years ago! How the hell would I have had a phone back then?"
"Yikes dude," cringed Nino. "And why would a teacher do that?"
"I'm just glad you got out of there without lipstick on your face," said Marinette.
"Thanks Mil-Marinette," said Adrien.
"Way to go, dude. You dodged a big ass bullet that time," Adrien thought. Thankfully, Marinette didn't seem to notice.
"Hey, we're here," commented Alya.
The theater was quite massive. It was always reserved for plays, so the fact they were able to get a talent show done here was amazing in itself.
"You kids need us to ride up to the door?" Michelle asked from up front.
"Nah, I think we're good," said Adrien, after collecting everyone's answers.
Then, after being dropped off at the theater, the four walked backstage, only to be greeted by their classmates and Mme. Bustier. They had ran into Alix, Nathanael, Lila, and Kim prior, and the four said they were going to the bathroom or going to talk with someone.
"We were hoping you could get here!" the teacher said. "You all look stunning!"
"Thank you," they all said in unison.
"Well, we have about an hour and a half before we go on stage," Mme. Bustier said. "There should be a board for you, Marinette, and Nino, I think your drum kit is in that closet. But before you get them, could you four do me a favor?"
They all nodded in response.
"Okay, about two hallways down, there is a box of microphones and all of our necessary stands for them," Mme. Bustier explained. "Its a four person job, and I trust you all."
The four nodded, and ran to go grab the supplies for their performance.
Mireille sighed sadly as she stepped backstage with the rest of her class. Aurore had completely messed up her part! If only she would hold still so she could give her a good smack. Granted, their theme was "dance", and while she was no expert, she could've done her part correctly had Aurore not screwed it up!
"Hey, babe, you okay?" Jean Duparc walked over to his girlfriend, his best friend and vice-president, Dean DeBlois, in tow.
"Huh?" Mireille asked. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine..."
"Hey, what Aurore did wasn't cool," Dean said. "She's only jealous you got the star part."
Mireille looked up at her boyfriend and friend with an earnest smile on her face, but she soon stood up and walked away briskly.
"Where are you going?" Jean asked.
"To the bathroom," Mireille answered, before sprinting down the hall. Jean only placed his forehead in his hand, feeling bad for his girlfriend.
"Hey, she's tough," Dean said, putting a hand on Jean's shoulder. "She'll be okay."
"I'm damn sure hoping," said Jean. "She has yet to be akumatized though. And that's what concerns me."
And once Mireille found the bathrooms, she leaned on the counter, cupped her head in her hands, and started to cry. She felt a piece of metal brush against her arm, and looked down to see the center red gem of her necklace, and it had two green gems on either side. Her mother had given it to her to wear for tonight, and she felt as if it was her only redeeming feature at this point.
But then, as she was looking away, a black and purple butterfly entered her necklace and a voice penetrated her head.
"Medusa, I am Hawk Moth. I have dealt with Aurore before, she is really no good. Now, your desire to sit her still will work and turn her, along with anyone else that dare looks at your eyes, to stone. But since you hate looking at people while sad, I will remove your vision and enhance your other senses. And get me the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir while you're at it."
"You got it, Hawk Moth," Mireille growled.
"Adrien? These are wired microphones," Mme. Bustier said.
"Huh. It said wireless on the box," said Adrien. "I'll go get the right ones. Mari, wanna come with?"
"S-sure!" Marinette said.
"Mind if me and Nino tag along?" Alya asked.
"Not at all," Adrien responded. Secretly, he had hoped this would be his chance to tell Marinette his feelings, but he swore the time would come eventually.
But when they were returning with the proper microphones, the same four they ran into previously were running for their lives.
"What the hell happened?!" Nino screamed.
"AKUMA!" Alix shouted. Then, the four running down the hall split up.
"I'll check it out," said Adrien. "Marinette, you should go see if everyone's okay. I'll check on our classmates."
"R-right!" Marinette stuttered, before running in the direction of the stage, her shoes tapping till she couldn't be heard anymore.
"I'll go check the other classes," said Nino, before sprinting off.
"I'll... just stay here," said Alya.
With that, Adrien nodded to his friend, and sped off to see if his classmates were okay. Turns out, they were all turned to stone. Each of them looked to be in a screaming pose.
"Well, they're just still as statues, ain't they?" said Plagg.
"That pun was terrible, even in my standards," said Adrien. "Plagg, CLAWS OUT!"
Plagg was sucked into the ring, and Adrien was instantly transformed into Chat Noir. He then ran out to the hall leading to the theater, where he ran into Ladybug.
"Hello Milady," said Chat, flirtatious as ever, but his expression quickly turned to a frown. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"J-just follow me," Ladybug said. On the way, they met up with all six of their superhero friends, and walked into the theater prepared for anything.
Except what they found.
Everyone, everyone in the theater was a stone statue. All of them adorned a shocked expression on their faces, and were clearly terrified out of their minds by this akuma.
"Holy shit," Volpina muttered.
"I second that," Crimson muttered.
Conveniently, all of them looked at one another as a faint slithering was heard in the distance.
"Yo, this is jacked up," Eagle said, clutching his bow and arrow.
"HEY!" Shell Shocker yelled at no one in particular. "Show yourself!"
A small hiss was heard as a green figure slithered on stage. Her tail was long, scaly, and a dark shade of olive green. She had scales practically everywhere beneath her face, but all of her skin was sand green. She had on deep maroon lipstick, and fangs peeked from her mouth. Her eyes were currently closed, but she didn't need them for directions, as the snakes coming out of her hair were enough for a pointer.
"Hello Miraculousss wielders," Medusa hissed. "I am Medusa, and I am here for your Miraculoussses."
"Oh yeah?!" Lupus exclaimed, charging up to Medusa. "I'm gonna-MMMPH!"
As soon as he got within arms reach of Medusa, her hand grabbed Lupus' neck and pulled the wolf themed superhero close to her face.
"I can tell what a handsssome boy you are," Medusa hissed. "Give me a kiss."
Medusa's lips collided with Lupus' almost immediately. Medusa appeared to be really enjoying it (a little too much), but Lupus was flailing his arms in any way he could.
A few seconds later, Medusa let go of Lupus, and he dropped to the ground as stone encased him in an identical cover to his body.
"Don't let her kiss you," Chat whispered.
"No duh!" Queen Bee exclaimed. "I'm gonna take this gal down. POLLINATION!"
Queen Bee did a few twirls, and her wand started leaking sweet, sticky honey. But as she screamed and charged at Medusa, the snake woman opened her eyes to reveal bright red circles that could scare anyone from anywhere.
And before Queen Bee could hit Medusa, she turned to a stone statue and fell mere feet away from where Lupus had fallen as well.
"Okay, don't look at her eyes either," Chat added.
Then, the theater became a full-on war zone. Medusa, as with all the other akumas, was tough. But she was on a level near, or even next to, Hammerhead. She kept her eyes closed for the majority of her fighting time, but when she opened them, everyone was forced to shield their eyes in fear they would end up like Lupus or Queen Bee.
And first to fall was Shell Shocker, who tried (and failed) to do a sneak attack, and Medusa froze him in a running pose. Next was Eagle Eye, who tried to stun her with his bell, but she used his distraction as an opportunity to snag a look at him and freeze him in the air, which resulted with him on the ground.
"Shit, oh shit," Crimson muttered from behind a crate she, Volpina, Ladybug, and Chat were using for cover. "I hate snakes. I hate em. First, i disliked them. Now, I hate them."
"Do you think your whispers are anything short of a scream to me?" Medusa hissed. "I can hear you a mile away, I will find you..."
"Ladybug, now might be a good time to use that charm of yours," Volpina whispered.
"Yeah, guys, she's slithering over here," Chat muttered.
"This better count," Ladybug muttered. "LUCKY CHARM!"
She tossed her yo-yo up in the air, and a small, oval shaped, red and black checkered contraption fell into her hands.
On the bottom was the word "FLASH".
"A flash grenade?" Ladybug muttered. "What the hell?"
"Wait!" Chat exclaimed, grabbing the grenade. "I've got an idea!"
He then yanked and spat out the pin to the grenade, and tossed it in front of Medusa before ducking where he was hiding previously.
"What is-" Medusa hissed, before the grenade went off an sent a shrill ring into her ears, and left her totally clueless.
"What has happened?!" she exclaimed.
And the four remaining Miraculous wielders took their chance at this. Volpina and Crimson focused on distractions so Ladybug could swing in and attack without getting turned to stone while Chat tried to find the source of the akuma. He then noticed how the necklace looked a tad out of place.
"Hey, wait a minute," Chat said, before charging at Medusa and yanking the necklace off of the snake girl's neck. "Milady! Take this!"
He tossed it at her, and she crushed the gems on the necklace with her heel, and out flew a purple butterfly, but Ladybug wasn't about to let it escape.
"No more evil doing for you," she said, tired of all he chaos this single butterfly had caused. "TIME TO DE-EVILISE!"
Then, the akuma was turned back into the beautiful butterfly it was before it's transformation, and with a "MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!", everyone was set back to normal. Shell Shocker, Eagle Eye, Lupus, and Queen Bee were set free from their stone imprisonment, along with the talent show host, and everyone else in the audience. Presumably, all of their classmates had been healed too. And lastly, oily mist departed from Medusa, only to reveal a tired and confused Mireille underneath.
"Wh-what the heck?" she asked, rubbing her head.
"Great work team," said Ladybug. "Sorry about the whole 'stone statues' thing."
"Eh, it was kinda cool!" said Eagle Eye.
"Only you, dude," sighed Queen Bee.
"Well, I presume we all need to be going," said Chat.
And with that, the eight said their goodbyes, and headed in separate directions to de-transform and prepare for their act.
About fifteen minutes after the battle, up-and-coming designer of the Ladybug anime series (that Adrien was secretly a huge fanboy about) and host of the talent show, Thomas Astruc, stepped up to the podium to announce the act we've all been waiting for.
"Well, our next class had the theme of 'music'," Thomas began. "And they've decided to take things back into the 50's, and put a jazz spin on "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked" by Cage The Elephant. I hate spoiling things, but I am quite excited for this! Alright everyone, put your hands together for the 10th grade class of Caline Bustier!"
The audience applauded soundly, and the curtains pulled back to reveal the class placed in an arch shape. Marinette was perched on top of the grand piano Adrien sat at, while Nathanael and Lila were on their right. Nino was in the center of the arch, and Kim was on his left with Alix next to him. Then, there were five chairs, seating Rose, Juleka, Ivan, Mylene, and Sabrina. Alya was center stage, and turned around to the microphone and began to sing.
I was walking down the street when out the corner of my eye
I saw a pretty little thing approaching me
She said, "I never seen a man, who looks so all alone
And could you use a little company?
If you can pay the right price, your evening will be nice
But you can go and send me on my way"
I said, "You're such a sweet young thing, why you do this to yourself?"
She looked at me and this is what she said
Oh there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothing in this world for free
Oh no, I can't slow down, I can't hold back
Though you know, I wish I could
Oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good
After Nathanael's quick bass break, Max popped up from the other side of the piano with a prop 50's telephone in his hand, and he looked to be pissed off at whoever could possibly be at the other end of the line. It caused a few chuckles to go round, mainly from Alix, Kim, and Sabrina.
Not even fifteen minutes later after walking down the street
When I saw the shadow of a man creep out out of sight
And then he swept up from behind, he put a gun up to my head
He made it clear he wasn't looking for a fight
Then, Max mouthed a very angry "WHAT?!" into the phone, before slamming it down shut and walking next to where Marinette was perched. She then took the tambourine at her side, and handed it to him, which he gladly accepted and made his way back to where he was previously to begin playing his instrument, while Marinette stepped forward to her board and began tap dancing. Two thing she noticed that made her blush were the facts that her parents' faces lit up while Michelle merely giggled, and how Adrien's blank stare turned into a wide grin once she began.
He said, "Give me all you've got, I want your money not your life
But if you try to make a move I won't think twice"
I told him, "You can have my cash, but first you know I gotta ask
What made you want to live this kind of life?"
He said
Oh there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed
There ain't nothing in this world for free
Oh no, I can't slow down, I can't hold back
Though you know, I wish I could
Oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good
Well now a couple hours past and I was sitting in my house
The day was winding down and coming to an end
And so I turned on the TV and flipped it over to the news
And what I saw I almost couldn't comprehend
I saw a preacher man in cuffs, he'd taken money from the church
He'd stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar bills
But even still I can't say much because I know we're all the same
Oh yes we all seek out to satisfy those thrills
Oh there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
We got bills to pay, we got mouths to feed
There ain't nothing in this world for free
Oh no we can't slow down, we can't hold back
Though you know we wish we could
Oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good
Then, the song was over as fast as it began. The audience stood up and roared with applause and whistles as the students all took a bow and made their way backstage.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Kim screamed.
"Dude, I feel so ALIVE!" Alix yelled.
"Great dancing Mari!" said Adrien, winking at her.
"R-r-really?!" Marinette stuttered. "T-t-thank y-you!"
"No problem," said Adrien. "I couldn't dance like you if my entire existence depended on it."
The students just stood there and had a good time talking with one another (and Alya insisting Marinette freestyle) for about thirty minutes before Mme. Bustier came back with the results.
"Did we do good?" Nathanael asked.
"Well, we didn't win, we came second to the dancers," said Mme. Bustier.
"Even though we had the best one!" Adrien put in, gesturing to Marinette, and causing her to blush.
"That is true!" agreed Mme. Bustier. "But, we still get the pizza party and a movie!"
Everyone in the class cheered at this. Granted, they might not get a day off school, but that was practically equivalent to what they were getting.
"Parents will be waiting out front," said Mme. Bustier. "However, you all are welcome to stay until they tell us to leave."
But, as expected, everyone stayed as long as they could. Rose and Juleka asked Marinette about a potential tap class (and Alya freaked out, claiming she called it), to which Marinette told them private lessons between the four could be arranged. Then, everyone began to leave, and only Marinette, Alya, Adrien, and Nino remained.
"Okay, I gotta split," said Nino, checking his watch. "Still, great job guys! See ya Monday!"
Nino kissed Alya's cheek, bro hugged Marinette and Adrien, and scurried out the door and towards the exit.
"Hey, I gotta dash," said Alya. "But it's been so damn fun. Thanks you guys, and make sure you get those dance classes in order Mari!"
"Hey, I'll try!" said Marinette. Alya then hugged her and Adrien before walking towards the exit like all their classmates before her.
"Well, guess its just us," said Adrien. "You were really amazing out there though."
"Thank you so much!" Marinette said.
"Hey, want me to walk out with you?" Adrien asked. "I'm more than available."
"Uh, okay!" Marinette said.
Adrien and Marinette then made their way out to the parking lot, but before they exited the building, Adrien boldly made his move.
"Marinette, you are truly amazing," said Adrien, "but ever since I found out, I loved you all the more. I started visiting you as my alter ego, and I wanted to jump for joy when I saw those posters in your room and you told me what they meant. I always cared for you, but I only feel like we grow closer every passing day. I really love you Mari. Regardless of anything, I still love you, and I always will."
Then, he cupped her surprised face into his hands, and pulled her into a sweet, passionate kiss. One more passionate than the "LadyNoir" kiss from Dark Cupid, or the stone kiss of Medusa to Lupus. This was truly amazing.
After a short, but heavenly, moment, one that neither wanted to end. But, sadly, they pulled away for air.
"I'll see you soon, Princess," said Adrien, before walking out of the theater with a shocked Marinette trailing far behind him somewhere. He eventually got to the limo, where his mom and Nathalie were waiting for him.
"So, how'd it go, Romeo?" Nathalie asked.
Adrien then showed them where Marinette's lipstick had stained his lips.
"Oh, sweetie, that's perfect!" said Michelle. "I'm sure patrol will be much more fun now."
"Definitely," Adrien said.
But as he got comfortable, he realized something.
He had not told her about him knowing her alter ego.
I'll try and get the next chapter out as soon as possible. :)