After the fiasco with Dr Plaggenstine, the dancers decided to all head to a Halloween party that weekend to relax. Alya, of course, was the main driving force behind this and either threatened, bribed or physically forced the whole group to agree to a party being held at the Cat's Eye that Saturday night.

"Alya, I don't have anything to wear for Halloween and I don't have enough time to make something," Marinette cried to her best friend.

"Oh Marinette, I am shocked that you don't have faith in me as a friend. Of course we are going shopping this afternoon after rehearsal for costumes," Alya replied, poking her finger into Marinette's chest.

"But-"

"No but's Marinette, we are going shopping and that's final. Oh maybe we can get the whole group together to pick costumes," Alya mused.

"That sounds like a great idea babe," Nino said grinning, as he walked up to the girls with Adrien in tow. "Hey Marinette, how are you holding up?"

"I'm good Nino, thanks for asking. Hi Adrien, how are you feeling after the other day?" Marinette asked, looking Adrien over.

"I'm ok Mari, sorry if I freaked you out with my, uh, reaction," Adrien mumbled, his hand rubbing the back of his head.

"Not really, more just making sure you are going to be up to dancing today. I have a feeling that Tikki and Plagg are going to make us work extra hard since we have missed a few days'," she replied as they all made their way into the studio to start stretching.

After rehearsal, everyone took the bus to the fashion district, where they found Madame Zostra's; a costume shop that seemed to be of a higher quality than the others.

"Welcome children! I am Madame Zostra and this is my store. I have just one rule that must be followed if you wish to purchase my costumes. This rule is that I choose the costume that you wear. I will not allow someone to wear something I have made when it does not suit them." She informed the group.

"Um, I suppose that should work for us, since we haven't actually decided what we were going as," Felix said, looking to the rest of the group for confirmation. They all nodded in agreement.

"Wonderful, now ladies first," Madame Zostra smiled, pointing at Marinette, "You dear, come with me."

As Marinette followed Madame Zostra into the maze of costumes, she saw that they were all exquisitely made and that no two were the same.

"You have quite a collection here Madame," she complimented, "And I can see they are all very high quality; do you make them all yourself?"

"Yes I do dear, thank you. It keeps me busy for the rest of the year," Madame Zostra replied, stopping near some white costumes, "I think this will be the one for you." She held up an outfit with a smile and Marinette instantly agreed that it would look perfect on her.

THE DAY OF THE PARTY

Marinette was exhausted, all she could think about was just curling up in bed and going to sleep forever. Unfortunately, she knew that if she didn't show up, Alya would break into her apartment and drag her out kicking and screaming.

Sighing she walked into her bathroom, turned on the shower and stood under the running water trying to gather up the energy to get dressed.

Two hours later she was finally ready, the costume that Madame Zostra had sold her was very time consuming to actually get into but Marinette had decided it was worth it, once she saw herself in the mirror. Smiling she grabbed her accessories and walked confidently towards the door.

So can I be the devil tonight?

Go away, I am not dealing with you tonight.

He he he, you won't get rid of me that easily. Especially not in that outfit, it is way too obvious and you will be run out of the party in no time.

Marinette tried to ignore the voice, but as she got into the taxi to head to the Cat's Eye, she had an inkling of doubt in the back of her head that maybe it was right.

The music was pounding in the club, bodies everywhere and some extra parts were already flying thanks to some of the zombies in the room. The dancers had claimed their usual booth, which was close to the bar but not too close.

Alya, who was dressed as witch, gripped her broomstick tightly, "Where is that girl?"

"Marinette will be soon, I'm sure babe," zombie Nino said calmly.

"There she is!" Rose, who was dressed as pumpkin, yelled over the music, standing on the booth to wave.

Everyone looked up and Alya swore she saw vampire Adrien's mouth drop as he saw Marinette walking down the stairs. She was dressed as an angel, with large white feather wings adorning her back, a short fluffy skirt, tight corset and white halo finishing off the outfit.

"Hi guys," she said as she reached them, noting each of their costumes. Felix was a ghost, Kim looked like a skeleton, Nathanial was a clown and Lila was dressed like a spider, "I love all of your costumes, Madame Zostra really did a great job!"

"Yes she did," Adrien said, after Nino had closed his mouth from gaping at Marinette. "Would you like to dance?"

"Oh sure, I'd love to," Marinette smiled up at him, taking his hand and walking out onto the dance floor with him.

"Aww don't they look cute as a couple?" Rose asked, sighing, before looking at Felix with a longing look.

"Yeah they do," Nathanial agreed, looking at Lila the same way.

"Well they better hurry up and get together," Kim said, "I have put good money on them to be together in the next two weeks."

"Wait, there is a betting pool on how long it will take for them to get together?" Lila asked.

"Yes there is little spider," Plagg said waking up towards the group dressed as a black cat, "I started it. Minimum bets are $20 and I am still taking wages." He sang.

"Yes because betting on your colleagues love lives is totally normal," Tikki grumbled as she walked up behind Plagg, wearing what looked to be a red and black bug outfit.

"Oh come on Tikki, you can't deny that you put $50 on for them to be together in, what is it now, five weeks?" Plagg teased.

"Plagg! You promised not to say anything about my bet!" Tikki yelled, "Great now they will think I am as bad as you," she cried.

The rest of the dancers all grabbed out their wallets and started placing bets on when the two would start dating, some even going as far as to say how long until the first kiss.

After three hours of dancing non-stop, Marinette finally had to leave the Cat's Eye; she knew that if she didn't go home, she would be in for another sleepless night.

"Do you have to go?" Adrien asked sadly.

"Yes, I still want to practice some more at home before going to bed and I need all the practice I can get." Marinette replied. Adrien squeezed her hand but let it go nodding.

"I know the feeling, I do that all the time." Marinette's eyes widened at the confession; she didn't think that after all this time he was still nervous about dancing, but maybe she was wrong.

Once she got home the voice started back up again, this time it played on Adrien's insecurities. If he was still nervous, it was only because she was so incompetent as a dancer and that he had to compensate for her mistakes.

2 WEEKS LATER

Marinette was feeling weak; she hadn't eaten much again. The voice had kept ridiculing her while she tried to eat breakfast so she only managed to gulp down a glass of juice before it became too much. Combine that with three weeks of almost no sleep and that spelt a recipe for disaster. Tikki wanted Marinette and Adrien to practice their lifts today since she was still new to partner dancing.

"Are you ok Mari? You don't look great," Adrien asked with a worried look.

"I'm fine Adrien, just nervous about the lifts I guess," she replied. She hated lying to everyone, but if they found out that she was hearing voices she would be kicked out for good and never be able to professionally dance again.

The music started for the final duet, where Ladybug and Chat Noir reconnected after the heartbreak. Marinette was trying to focus on the mood of the dance as well as the steps themselves.

"Good Adrien, keep your core strong as you lift her," Tikki instructed, "Marinette, make sure you don't relax once you are up, you need to keep strong in your upper body to help Adrien balance."

"Yes Madam," they said in unison.

Marinette felt light headed as they began to practice the lift again and as Adrien placed her on his shoulder, she suddenly felt like the world was spinning.

"I don't feel so good," she mumbled before the darkness began to engulf her,

"MARI!"