What's this? A musical number? Sure! Why not?
Meeting Tikki
Marinette sighed as she stumbled out of the detention hall hours later. She could not believe that she had missed a great deal of class time. Cleaning up the damage at the Champs-Elysees should not have taken that long. And then there was the fact that Star was suspicious of the fact that she was Ladybug ...
"Marinette, what if Star and Marco have already found out who you really are?" Tikki squeaked worriedly.
"I hope they haven't connected the dots, Tikki," Marinette said grimly. "The way that Star was talking to us, it sounded like she already did."
They continued their way out of the school and crossed the street to the bakery. They opened the door and went up the stairs to her room when Marco and Star opened the door to their room.
"Marinette, can you help us with something?" Marco asked.
Marinette sighed. She had been afraid of this. This was the moment where her identity as Ladybug would be revealed. Resigning herself to the inevitable, she went into the room and closed the door. There sat Star and Marco on the bed, as her parents were working down below and the Diazes had obviously gone to take more pictures. "What is it?" Marinette groaned.
"We need a bit of help," Marco said. "After we battled some akumas at the Champs-Elysees, we got some unwanted attention by the press."
"The press?" Marinette's expression changed from one of weariness to that of confusion.
"Yeah. Apparently, they think we're Ladybug and Cat Noir's sidekicks," Marco answered. "They even think that we're superheroes."
"That's nothing," Marinette chuckled. "You should have been at my school today. All the kids there only want to talk about you two and how you battled the akuma with Ladybug and Cat Noir over the weekend."
"Can you help us find a way to lay low until this dies down?" Marco asked imploringly.
Marinette pondered. At last, she came up with a solution. "Wait here, you two," she said. She left the room and ran upstairs.
"Marinette, where are you going?" Tikki asked.
"I need something that will disguise, like a trench coat or jacket," Marinette answered, frantically searching her old clothes and unused fashion ideas. At last, she seemed to have stumbled upon something: a long, brown, used trench coat and a derby hat that she once submitted in a contest. "Perfect!" she beamed.
She went downstairs and opened the door, presenting both to Marco. "This oughta keep you disguised for some time," she said. "And Star, you have a spell that can change your appearance, right?"
"Well," Star said slowly, "I should, but I have to go check and see."
"Thanks," said Marco. "Now, I want to ask you something: How long have you been Ladybug?"
Marinette's heart beat faster; this was exactly what she was afraid of. "W-What do you mean?"
"Don't kid us, Mari." Marco got up. "We figured out your secret identity a long time ago."
"How long have you known?" Marinette asked fearfully.
"For a few hours," Marco said. "Star brought up how there was a resemblance between you and the insect-themed superhero, and we kinda put two and two together from there."
"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Marinette asked worriedly.
"No, of course not," Star said. "But we're a bit disappointed that you haven't confided in us."
"I'm sorry," Mari said. "But no one else should know."
"Another thing, who do you keep talking to in your bag?" Star asked.
Marinette sighed. There was no point in keeping up the charade any longer. "It's over, Tikki. Come on out. No point in hiding." Realizing that her cover was blown, Tikki flew out of Marinette's pouch and turned to Marco and Star.
"Awww," cooed Star. "Who are you?"
"Star, Marco, this is . . . Tikki," Marinette introduced, saying the last word as if it were painful to do so. "She's the source of my abilities as Ladybug."
"Hi, Tikki," Marco said softly.
"Hi, Marco. Hi Star," Tikki said, rather shyly.
"So Marinette," Star said, "how come we haven't seen Tikki when we first came here?"
"Well," Marinette said, "when I first got Tikki, she told me that nobody must ever know that I had a kwami."
"Did she say why, though?" Marco asked, totally fascinated by the ladybug spirit in front of him.
Marinette paused. "Come to think of it, not really. In fact, now that you say it, I don't know why I need to keep it a secret. Although, to be safe, I still shouldn't tell anyone else, because if Hawk Moth ever found out who I was, then everybody else would be in danger."
"Well, you'd better spill the beans soon," Marco said. "Because if people find out that you're Ladybug and you never told them, then they might not be as forgiving as we are."
"I guess," Marinette conceded. "I'll see if I can."
"So," Star bounced in front of Marinette, positively excited about the prospect of another action girl, "how long have you been fighting akumas as Ladybug? Who's Cat Noir's kwami? Is it true that Adrien is Cat Noir? And do you have a crush on Adrien?"
"I've been fighting akumas for quite some time," Marinette answered. "And I don't know who Cat Noir really is. And wait, you know I have a crush on him?"
"Hello! Of course! The stuttering, the dreamy look in your eyes, the way you look at him when he is near you, those clearly show that you are in love with him!" Star continued. "I should know! Because Marco had those same expressions on his face when he had a crush on Jackie Lynn Thomas!"
Now it was Marco's turn to sour his expression. He was pretty sure Star didn't know, but ever since day one of the trip, he had feelings for Marinette which she had yet to reciprocate. And as far as he was aware, Star didn't have feelings for him. The last he checked, she was into that Oskar Greason dude. Sure, he had feelings for Jackie Lynn Thomas, but that was a long time ago. Come to think of it, she hadn't contacted him in a while asking him to hang out with him.
"Aw, thanks," Marinette blushed. "But I don't think I stand a chance with him."
"You never know unless you try, girl," Star smiled.
"Yeah, I guess," Marinette agreed.
"Well," said Marco, who saw his chance to make his move, "if you want, I could show you a few karate moves that my sensei taught me. That way, the next time you fight an akuma, you won't have to rely on your yoyo all the time."
Marinette paused to consider this. "That's actually a pretty good idea. Maybe after I finish my homework, we can get to practice." Star frowned a little. "Besides, I could use a little expertise where hand to hand combat is concerned. Care to show me?"
"For you, milady, I would," Marco said, bowing courteously to her.
And so, Marco, Marinette, and Tikki left the room, leaving Star all alone.
Star:
There is only one thing these types of feelings can bring
Unbridled jealousy, am I right?
It's kind of sad to see he hasn't yet noticed me
But I'm not giving up without a fight
Marco has feelings for Mari like he did for Jackie
I wonder if he knows what I feel
But I can only say that I hope he knows one day
That my feelings for him are real
It's a good thing I'm here, I will always be near
This boy that I secretly love
And with all of our might, we will make it through the night
He's the boy that I secretly love
If you never know it's true, I'll be there for you
You're the boy that I secretly love
But what would you do if you knew that was true?
That's why I so secretly love you
She sighed, hoping that one day, Marco realized that she was meant for him.
Plagg lay on the sofa, groaning weakly. He had never experienced something like this before. What was it? Adrien entered the room to find him curling up in a ball on the sofa. He smirked.
"Let me guess, you ate too much camembert?" he asked, smirking a little.
"Hahaha-no," Plagg remarked. "I felt a deep spiritual disturbance happen."
Adrien sat down on the sofa next to his kwami. "What do you mean?" he asked, the humor entirely gone.
"I felt . . . as if something . . . weird has happened," Plagg explained. "As if someone had revealed my very existence to the world."
Adrien sat down, concerned. This was trouble indeed. He remembered the words that Plagg had spoken on the issue the first time they met each other.
Your father must never know that I exist, or anyone for that matter.
That was one of the few times Plagg had been serious about anything. Adrien said, "Well, don't worry about me, because I never revealed anything to anyone."
"I know. But it doesn't necessarily have to be you," Plagg said. "We kwamis are all strongly spiritually linked. As long as someone else has a kwami, all they have to do is reveal that kwami's existence to outsiders, causing an imbalance in spiritual harmony."
Adrien pondered this idea. This was very troubling indeed. "Who should we talk to about matters like these?"
"Master Fu," Plagg said weakly.
"Who's that?" Adrien asked curiously.
"Ancient spiritual master," Plagg answered. "Lives at 896 E. Sycamore Street. He'll be able to help us, and hopefully find a solution to this problem."
"Okay," Adrien said, getting up. He put Plagg in his pocket and made to get ready to go there. But a voice stopped him dead in his tracks before he even reached the front door.
"Where do you think you are going, Adrien?"
Adrien froze, then turned around. His father, Gabriel Agreste, stood there at the top of the stairs, eyeing his son with mild disapproval. Once he was a much warmer and friendlier man, but that had been when his wife was still alive. Now father and son were emotionally distant to each other; even though they were in the same house, it felt as though they were on opposite sides of the world.
"Father, I just need to visit someone for a few minutes," Adrien implored. "It's urgent business."
"Absolutely not," his father snapped. "You'll stay here where your bodyguard, Natalie, and I can keep an eye on you. Then you have Chinese lessons in an hour."
"Please, father," Adrien was practically begging now. "It's important."
Silence. Neither party spoke. Only the quiet tick-tock of the clock could be heard. At last, Gabriel sighed. "All right. I'm letting you go just this once. But be sure to be back within an hour."
"Thank you, father," Adrien sighed with relief. He opened the door and ran out of the estate entrance. As soon as his son was out of sight, Gabriel allowed himself a thin smile.
Because he knew exactly what his son was up to.
So apparently Marco was wrong about how Star felt about him. Who knew?
Up next, prepare for something BIG next chapter. That's all I'm going to say.
