Chapter Three: A Long, Long Night for Three Teenagers
As soon as Adrien got home, he was met with an angry Natalie.
"Where were you? Why are you so late? Do you have any idea how worried your father was? You father is very disappointed." She seethed, worried that she might lose her job.
Adrien rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"While I was doing homework with Marinette, the akuma attacked and Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-cheng thought it was best to stay safe." He explained, leaving out the part where he actually fought the akuma, but she didn't have to know that.
Natalie cocked her head, as if she was debating something.
"Look. Your father wants you in his office tomorrow at 6:00 PM sharp. Try not to anger him." She said before walking to her office, her heels clicking on the floor with each step.
"By the way… I'm going to bed!" He yelled before racing up the stairs.
He closed his door and locked the new lock he had bought the day before.
Then he put a pillow under the sheets and the head of a life-sized doll (that he bought for this purpose) on top of another pillow.
Now it looked remotely like him from the doorway.
He packed some pjs, a blanket, another pillow, and some entertainment for the all-nighter. Finally, he brought some milk, a bowl, and camembert. It was time to head over to Marinette's house.
"Plagg, claws out!" He yelled before opening his window and climbing out.
It took him about ten minutes to get to Marinette's house and when was practically frozen. Of course, it was winter and he should have brought some layer of protection, but then again… he might have been identified.
When Mariette saw him, she laughed. LAUGHED!
"It's not funny!" Chat protested.
"Oh, but it is." Marinette replied as she let him in and gave him some hot cocoa.
"I thought your suit had a type of heating." Marinette commented.
"It decided not to work, which was pretty inconvenient. If this is Plagg's idea of a practical prank, he can forget Christmas camembert." Adrien exclaimed.
He detransformed and Plagg came out of his ring, laughing. "Oh! You should have felt the kid's emotions! It was soooooooooo funny!" Plagg shouted. Then Adrien's glare shut him up.
"Like I said. He can forget about Christmas camembert." Adrien said, grumpily.
Plagg gasped and lay himself at his 'master's' feet, begging for redemption. Marinette and Tikki were quietly giggling in Marinette's bed. Then, Tikki grabbed Plagg and pulled him out of sight as Tom came up to Marinette's room.
"Still here?" He asked Adrien. He blushed and tried a smile.
"I guess, but I can leave if you would like me to." He said. Tom smirked.
"Stay as long as you want, son. In fact, you can stay for the next 80 years." He said and quickly disappeared under the trapdoor before Marinette could process what he had just said.
After fifteen very long seconds, Marinette realized what he said, blushed furiously, and yelled at her father. "Papa! You-I-Adrien-We. Ugh!" Adrien snickered and Marinette threw the closest thing available at him.
Unfortunately for Adrien, that was her shoe. It hit him right on the head and he winced in pain.
Being Ladybug gave her strength to make to softest shoe hurt when thrown at someone.
"I think I liked you better when you could only stutter around me. It's just like with the yo-yo when we're transformed." Adrien said.
Marinette chuckled and raided his bag for movies.
"Nice pajamas." She commented. Adrien blushed. He'd packed a Ladybug onesie.
Finally, she got out the movies.
"Hmmmm. This is a very hard decision. Men in Black, Transformers, or The Outsiders." Marinette commented. Did she want aliens, robots and action, or classic teenage life.
"I think I'll settle on The Outsiders. It was one of my favorite books in middle school." Marinette decided.
"It was published on April 24th, 1967 while S.E. Hinton was 16, but she wrote most of it when she was 15." Marinette continued.
Adrien sighed and got ready for a whole lecture on the book.
"I won't bore you with more nerd facts. Let me get some snacks while you pop in the movie." Marinette said as she handed Adrien the dvd and climbed down the ladder to her kitchen.
Then she made her way to the bakery and stole some cookies and cupcakes.
"Time for a sugar rush." Marinette said to herself before grabbing some eclairs.
While Marinette was raiding the bakery, Adrien was getting the movie ready. While the previews were passing, he set up the sofa with many blankets. Most were stolen from Marinette's bed.
He went to her bathroom to change into his onesie. Why had he brought this onesie? He could have at least brought his Chat Noir onesie and save half of his dignity. His self pity was interrupted when Marinette came up her trapdoor.
He heard her set down the plate and go into her closet. Tikki said something unintelligible to Marinette and she agreed.
Adrien came out, fully dressed in his Ladybug themed onesie and sat down on the couch, picking a comfortable position. He felt like he was missing something. Something small.
Like… Plagg!
"Hey, Plagg!" Adrien whisper-shouted. Nothing.
"Plagg!" he whisper-shouted louder. Nothing. Again.
Then he heard a munching.
Adrien called on his inner Chat Noir and crept as silently as possible towards the munching. If he was correct, Plagg was eating something. Probably camembert.
As Adrien crept closer, the munching stopped and a moan was let out.
Adrien pounced, trapping whatever was hiding behind Marinette's computer. "Gotcha!" He yelled.
Opening his cupped hands, he found a victim of a food coma.
Yeah. It was Plagg.
To Adrien's surprise, the cause of the food coma were chocolate-chip cookies.
"Hey, uh, Plagg. I thought you didn't like sweets." Adrien said.
Plagg groaned.
"Nah. If I eat sweets, I can't stop. That's why I avoid them so often. Now be a good kid and put me on Marinette's bed." Plagg said.
He groaned again. Adrien complied and went over to the plate of sweets to grab something. To his surprise, there was nothing left.
Glaring at Plagg, he sat down on the couch and settled in with a noticeable empty stomach.
Finally, Marinette came out of the closet and spun around Adrien's jaw dropped to the floor.
Marinette was wearing a Chat Noir onesie, but it was different from his. Hers was made of a silkier material and it was more detailed.
For example, she even had a little choker with a bell attached to it.
As she spun around, Adrien saw that there was a baton sown onto the onesie. The best part was the hood, which sported tiny leather ears. Where had she gotten it?
"Do you like it?" She asked.
"Are you kidding me? Of course I do. Where did you get it?" Adrien asked. Marinette blushed and shifted uncomfortably.
"I… um…." Marinette muttered. Tikki sighed and spoke up.
"Marinette means to say that she made it herself."
Adrien blanched. There were no mistakes at all!
"What? You're almost as good as my father! I bet you can probably get an internship with your talent." Adrien said. Marinette blushed even more.
Tikki went over to hide Plagg. The trap door suddenly opened and in walked Alya.
"Hey, Mari! What's u- What is Adrien doing here?" Alya exclaimed. Marinette had just recovered from her blush, but was attacked again.
"He was, uh, staying over tonight." Marinette mumbled.
"Speak up! Only Adrien can hear you at that level of volume." Alya said. Adrien jumped in to help his girlfriend.
"I'm staying over for the night."
Alya hmphed and turned to give Marinette a behave-or-I'll-skin-you-both-alive look. She was secretly cheering and thanking God for making her 2 OTPs come true.
Marinette blushed even more.
"Do you wanna watch a movie with us, mom?" Marinette said, gaining confidence.
Alya laughed and nodded. "What type of question is that? Of course I do.
"So… where are those delicious snacks you always have?" Alya asked.
Marinette looked at the plate and gasped. It was empty.
"What?" Alya asked.
"Someone ate them all." Marinette spluttered. She turned to glare at Adrien.
"Don't look at me. I didn't eat anything after the snack we had after school." Adrien said. His hands were in the air, emphasizing his point.
"Then who did?" Marinette asked.
"I think you should ask the kwamis that." Adrien supplied. Marinette sighed.
"Tikki, Plagg! There's an akuma!" She called, wincing at her lie.
They shot out from their hiding place, ready for action. "Where?" Plagg yelled. Tikki caught on to the lie first.
"Ohhh! There isn't one, is there?" She said. Marinette allowed a small smile to slip.
"What do you mean? Come on! There's an akuma!" Plagg shouted.
All three teenagers rolled their eyes simultaneously.
"Is he as dense as Adrien, or what?" Alya asked.
"Hey!" Adrien and Plagg said at the same time.
"Definitely." Marinette said, smirking.
"Ok. First things first, I'm pretty sure NO ONE is as dense as Mr. Agreste over here." Plagg said, defensively.
"Why is everyone saying I'm dense?" Adrien asked.
Everyone else rolled their eyes.
"Now let's go fight that akuma." Plagg said.
"Plagg… There is no akuma. Now, care to explain to Marinette where all the pastries went?" Adrien said, exasperated.
"No- Wait! You all think I ate the pastries? Tikki helped too!" Plagg exclaimed.
Tikki let out an indignant squeak and claimed she didn't. The two kwamis argued relentlessly.
"They were made for each other." Alya commented. "Like you two."
Adrien and Marinette blushed. Marinette recovered first.
"What about you and Nino?" She asked. Alya spluttered.
"What about Queen Bee, Volpina, and Tortue Vert?"
"They don't count. We've only met them like, twice."
"The count!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Don't"
"Do!"
"Don't"
"Do!"
"Do!"
"Don't!" Alya shouted, falling for the trick.
"You're right. They don't count." Marinette said, with glee.
"Hey! You tricked me!"
"You fell for it!"
"GIRLS!" Adrien yelled.
This was going to be a long night.
Chapter Four: Superhero Boot Camp
This time the akuma was named Royal Pain and he knew how to annoy everyone in the worst possible way.
Gone was the sweet, merciful, and rested Ladybug. Meet meet the grumpy, tired, and lethal Ladybug.
The main person who kept getting on her nerves was Volpina. Even though Master Fu said she was trustworthy, Ladybug wasn't sure. Every move she made, Ladybug was ready to dodge her. Of course, they never came.
Besides, it was clear that the three newbies needed training. Ladybug had half a mind to tell them to sit this one out.
"Watch out!" Chat yelled. Ladybug dropped to the ground and rolled over as fast as she could. Queenie had almost impaled her with her stinger sword. Again.
Ladybug sighed and ran over to Chat.
"Any idea where the akuma is hiding?" She asked. "I think it's the bracelet." He said. Ladybug nodded and let fierce determination lead her.
"Dodge, weave, dodge, attack, grab, miss, dodge, attack, weave, grab, run." She muttered as she got the bracelet.
She broke it as soon as possible and purified the akuma.
She cleaned up the mess and turned to the group. "4:00. The park. Don't be late." Ladybug demanded before going home.
Chat followed her, hoping to calm her down.
The rest of the heroes rushed off to hidden places to detransform and wait until 4:00.
"Bugaboo! Milady! Wait!" Chat said. He sighed. "Marinette!" He called. Ladybug stopped.
"Was I too harsh?" She asked. Tears were streaming down her face. She was having a very bad day.
"Yes. But... It's what they need. They think this is all fun and games and they will suffer the consequences if they continue like that." Chat said.
"Are you sure?" Ladybug asked.
"Of course. Aren't I always right?" he asked, trying to cheer up his girlfriend. It worked. Marinette laughed.
"No! Stop. I'm supposed to be crying and swimming in my self pity." She said.
"Well, that's obviously not working. Let's go to your house and rest for a bit." Chat suggested. Ladybug nodded and wiped away her tears.
"Last one there owes the other a favor." He said before sprinting off towards Marinette's balcony.
"Cheater!" She yelled before catching up and passing Chat. She blew him a kiss and jumped in her balcony.
"Now for that favor..." She started.
"Uh oh!" Chat muttered and he Detransformed.
"Welcome to Miraculous Boot Camp." Ladybug said, cheerily. The newbies looked confused.
"Boot camp?" Queen Bee asked.
"Yes. Boot camp." LB confirmed.
"Why do we have to go through boot camp?"
Ladybug turned to Chat. "In order to actually be able to fight together without killing each other, you need to learn how to hone onto your skills." He explained. The newbs groaned.
"Before you ask…. Of COURSE you have to. As motivation, I convinced Milady to let me give the best prisoner a little treat." Ladybug looked alarmed.
"No you didn't." She whispered quickl
"Don't wanna be too harsh?" He asked, manipulating her. Ladybug sighed.
"Another motivation to make sure you attend each session is being sidelined if you ditch. So don't ditch sessions."
Ladybug looked at each newbie and made a tiny assessment of each of them.
"First lesson is learning how to use your abilities in a fight. Make sure you have enough recharge food with you. Raise your hand if you don't." Ladybug shouted.
All 3 raised their hands. Ladybug sighed. "What do you need?" Chat stepped in.
"Honey!"
"Lettuce!"
"Anything with caramel!"
Chat took Ladybug aside. "You go get the food and I'll start the torture."
Ladybug nodded. She swung her yo-yo and made her way to the bakery. She detransformed and snuck into the kitchen.
Looking around, Marinette spotted what she needed.
A jar of honey, as well as some honey pastries for Queen Bee. Some lettuce for Tortue Vert and some caramel chocolates for Volpina.
Meanwhile, Chat was trying to begin training. "OK! Attention everyone. While Ladybug is getting some food, you are going to start training. Line up in front of me!" Chat yelled.
They all complied. "Ok. Queen Bee, you will start by practicing your flying." Chat said. "Your flying is pretty useful. It gets you places faster and it helps launch air attacks. You can also throw us around when you're strong enough."
Queen Bee humphed. "Who says I'm not strong enough?"
Chat chuckled. "Okay. Try to throw me from the air."
Queen Bee smirked. "Easy!"
She walked towards Chat and put her arms around his torso. She flapped her wings and used all her strength. Chat never left the ground. Queen Bee let go and sighed in defeat.
"You see what I mean? It takes months of practice to be able to do that." Chat said as he picked Queen Bee up with ease. "Okay. Volpina, you're gonna help me with obstacles."
Volpina nodded and took out her flute. With one note, there were buildings and signs and a little starting point for Queen Bee.
"3….2…..1!" Queen Bee took off like a bullet and started the training excercise.
Chat watched as she approached the first object. It was a billboard. She flew above it, only to be met with another billboard. She dived down and was met with a civilian.
Queen Bee made a sharp right and flew straight into the brick wall.
"Queenie!" Chat yelled and rushed towards her. She was groaning.
"My head. Myyyy heeeeaadddd!"
"It's okay. That is a fraction of the pain that you would have felt had the wall been real. Tough luck, girl." Volpina shouted.
"Ughhh! Get off of me, you mangey alley cat!" She grumbled and stood up with a look of determination on her face.
"Again."
Chat cocked an eyebrow, but nodded to Volpina nonetheless.
And so Queen Bee went again. And again. And again. Each time she went into the obstacle course, she got better and she eventually made it through the whole thing.
Little did the group know that Ladybug was watching with a smile on her face.
Queen Bee was going a little happy dance after she finished it and Ladybug felt the urge to congratulate her.
"Great job, Queen!" She said from her hiding spot.
Said hero froze. Chat chuckled and Volpina rolled her eyes.
"Hey! I came with the food. Now, I think you should start practicing you sword fight with Chat. Volpina I need you and- Where in the world is Tortue?"
Chat's eyes widened, but for a different reason.
"Do you happen to have the time?" He asked.
Ladybug nodded. "Last I checked, it was 5:57. Why?"
"Uhhh... Gotta go. See you tomorrow!" He said before rushing off.
"Okay. Bye, Chatton!" Ladybug called before turning to the three new heroes.
"Nuh, uh, uh. Not so fast. We still have work to do." Ladybug said. They groaned.
"Ok. When Chat and I first went after Stoneheart, I messed up big time. We can't have that happen now with the akumas getting more powerful by the day. I see Queenie has worked on her flying. Volpina, I have to admit you're illusions are top notch. Now, Tortue. You are our protection. Next class, we will focus on you.
"For your homework: Queenie, work on your flying a bit more, but in more unfamiliar territory. Volpina, find your maximum amount of illusions. Tortue, the next akuma attack, focus on throwing out shields. I'll see you all next Saturday, same time." Ladybug said before taking off.
Queenie, Volpina, and Tortue looked at each other. An awkward silence hung in the air.
"Well... I guess I'll see you at the next patrol." Volpina said. She grabbed some caramel sweets before conjuring herself some wings and leaving.
Queenie nodded and flew away.
Tortue sat down. Oh he couldn't wait to be able to tell Adrien all about his adventures as Tortue when Wayzz would let him. He shrugged and made his way towards his home.
Bonus Scene:
Chat Noir dropped his transformation as soon as he reached his house. He ran up as fast as he could to his father's office and made it just in time. The clock struck six.
"Father?" Adrien called. There was no answer.
"Father! I'm here for the talk." Still no answer.
Adrien went inside and looked around. To his surprise, his father was standing with a weird pair of glasses over his eyes. They were shaped like a butterfly.
"Yes, Hawkmoth." Gabriel said. Adrien's eyes widened drastically. "Father! Fight him. Think of mother! Please!"
A purple, bubbly substance covered his father. Adrien couldn't stop watching as the substance melted away and in his father's place stood...
A/N: Hello! Here's another 2 chapters for y'all. Please review! Quick question- What should Gabriel Agreste's akuma name be?
