Marinette waited not-so-patiently by the front window of the bakery for Luka. She was still recovering from the temporary deafness she'd developed due to Alya screaming on the phone in happiness. Music festivals were her favorite, and Jagged Stone was headlining! She was beyond excited to not only hear her most-loved artist in all the world, but to share that with Luka.
Again, he was punctual, clean, and polite, promising Sabine he would be a second set of eyes on the clock.
Marinette was near boiling over with delight. "I can't wait for Jagged Stone! Isn't he the greatest, most talented musician you've ever heard?" She bounded out the door and flopped into the front seat. Luka chuckled as he coaxed the engine to life.
"Oh, sure, he's okay. But have you heard XY's new album? It's straight up lit."
Marinette cocked her head and slowly turned to look at him. "XY? Lit? But Jagged Stone just released a new album too, and I designed the cover for the one before it!"
"Oh yeah? That's pretty awesome! I didn't know you did artwork like that too." He sounded impressed, with a tone of awe carrying his voice above the radio. "And I think it's cool you got to design for Stone. But I have to say, XY has mad talent, something that Jagged Stone just can't touch."
The dumbstruck teenager in the passenger seat cleared her throat. She tried her newfound conversational talent.
"Jagged Stone has won six awards in the last eight years, you know. His record sales are still number one, and XY uses holographic DJs at his shows! They're not even real people," she tried to convince him. Sure, the holograms were something only Ladybug would know, but Luka didn't know that.
"For real?"
Marinette was sure she'd educated him on Jagged Stone's musical authority over the lame Mr. XY.
"Holograms are sick! See, if Stone would use holograms he'd have had the market cinched!"
She wrinkled her nose. "He doesn't need to. He runs on raw talent."
"So does XY. He just has a different set of skills," Luka explained. "See, when someone is able to use a turntable and audio effects the way he does, and even figure out how to perfect the use of holographic imaging so everyone thinks it's real, it's genius! Great business strategy if you ask me. You don't have to waste money on hiring live bodies, and he can even skip a few performances himself. His time is money, so why be somewhere when you don't have to be? Then, he can charge more for being personally present himself. Brilliant."
"But… but doesn't that ruin the integrity of the music?"
"Eh. People will still pay to go to the concerts because they want the commodity - his music. Who cares if he's there or not?"
"I do," Marinette answered quietly. She felt she had "lost" this discussion, and was rather disappointed. No, it wasn't a deal breaker that Luka didn't like Jagged Stone, and preferred Mr XY, but she had always pictured herself dancing to Jagged's music at prom, at parties, weddings, anywhere she heard it really, with someone who loved it as much as she did.
"Well, I'm sure we'll still have a good time," he said encouragingly, and smiled at her as he raised her hand to his lips. "I know Jagged Stone can't ruin the entire festival, right?" He was clearly joking, but Marinette didn't laugh.
"Okay, I know when I've done something wrong. Talk to me."
"I'm just a little disappointed. Jagged is a good person, and he loved the hard work I did for him. I don't really appreciate the joke, to be honest," she said truthfully.
"I didn't mean anything by it. I didn't know you were so… close?"
"No, not really, but I have met him a few times and he's a really dedicated musician who loves his work and his fans." Not to mention she'd saved his life a few times over as Ladybug. Saving someone's life sort of endears them to you a little. Except when you're Chloe.
"I guess that's fair. You're lucky I like you, because as much as I don't like his music I won't pick on it in front of you." This time, Marinette laughed at the joke. They would just have to agree to disagree.
It was difficult finding a parking space, because by the time they got there the Louvre was packed with people.
They fought their way through the throngs of people, until she spotted Alya talking to a familiar perfectly-coiffed head of blond hair. She made eye contact with the dazzling emeralds and saw him turn to her. However, she never got to find out if he was coming or simply repositioning, because blood curdling screams stole everyone's attention.
A janitorial worker that Marinette recognized from her frequent visits to the museum rose up above the crowds, decked out with a bright green backpack ShopVac and matching garbage spear.
"I am Tree Hugger, and you all are litterbugs!"
With that statement, she whipped out her ShopVac and sucked up a young man who had tossed his cigarette butt on the ground right in front of the freshly-sound-checked Jagged Stone.
"Well, hot damn," Luka remarked, then grabbed Marinette and bolted. "The fuck is going on here?" he shouted.
"Didn't Juleka tell you? We have an evil mastermind who possesses people and gives them evil superpowers!" Marinette yelled back, trying to keep up. Unfortunately, or not so much, Luka pulled her into a fleeing crowd and lost his grip on her hand.
"Marinette!" she heard him scream. But she really needed to be lost at the moment. Paris needed Ladybug.
She pretended to shriek in fright, and ducked behind a bench. "Tikki! Spots on!"
Ladybug emerged, swooping into the arena with Chat Noir on her heel. Boy, was she relieved to see him. She disliked fighting akumas on her own.
"So lovely to see you this evening, my lady. I was pawsitively ecstatic to spot your spots." He chortled at his own joke, and landed neatly under Tree Hugger. He smacked his baton against the ground, which then shot it up like a cannon and knocked her jet pack out.
"Always so impressed with yourself. You'd make a girl crazy," Ladybug answered with a smile, and used her yo-yo to try to catch Tree Hugger. Her attempt failed, and almost earned herself a place in the bottomless ShopVac.
"But do I? Make you crazy?" Chat purred as he used his baton as a pole vault and planted his feet into Tree Hugger's gut. "You know all nine of my lives have only one love."
"Oh, aren't I just flattered," she answered sarcastically. "Nice move!"
The maneuver jolted the akuma victim into a nearby tree, and as she fell, Ladybug noticed how she frantically grabbed for the garbage picker.
"The akuma! It's in the spear!" Ladybug called. "But we can't get near her with that ShopVac!"
"Don't you have a magic trick to help us out with that?" Chat was incredulous.
Oh, yeah. She did. "Lucky Charm!"
A giant rubber… thing landed into her hand. She stared at it blankly. "I don't even know what this is!" she shouted hysterically. Chat was no help; he simply shrugged.
"It's a mute! It's a trombone mute!" a new masculine voice called. "You put it in the bell and it hinders the airflow!"
Ladybug looked around for the disembodied voice and felt her blood turn to ice. Luka.
"Get the mute into the nozzle of her ShopVac!" he screeched, now in hot pursuit from Tree Hugger, who was also being chased by Chat Noir. It would have been comical had Luka not been in very real danger. What was he doing here? Didn't he know he could get himself killed, or hurt at the very least?
Ladybug thought quickly, and called for Chat Noir as she swung to just ahead of the trio. She waited and hoped Chat understood her call until Luka passed her. Chat's baton came flying by and stuck straight up. She was then able to loop her yo-yo around it, and slingshot the mute directly into Tree Hugger's vacuum.
Once more, she flung the magical yo-yo and yanked the garbage picker right out of Tree Hugger's hands. She snapped it in half over her knee and purified the escaped black and purple akuma butterfly.
"Miraculous Ladybug!" The swarm of ladybugs swept the area, and Tree Hugger was once again Louise, and her victims sat around looking dazed.
Her earrings beeping, she turned to face Chat and Luka. One was awfully proud of himself, and the other looked a little nauseated.
"Thanks for your help, guy. That was some bal - uh, bravery you've shown," Chat complimented Luka.
Ladybug could only smile and nod in agreement. She was afraid to speak any further, in case Luka recognized her voice.
"Well, Bugaboo, I think this is goodbye," Chat said in a low, husky voice. He raised a claw to kiss her hand. "I'd ask you to stick around, but I'd hate to see you let the cat out of the bag." Again, he laughed at his own joke and pranced out of sight.
Luka startled, as if suddenly remembering something. "My girlfriend! Marinette! I don't see her anywhere!"
Ladybug's eyes widened. She said "Bug out!" but she didn't think Luka even heard her.
She dropped her transformation once she was alone, and hurried back to Luka. He was walking quickly through the rescued ShopVac victims, asking them all, "Did you see a girl, about yea high, black hair, incredible blue eyes? She has pigtails!"
"Luka!" she called before he shook someone.
"Marinette!" He came running to her, and grabbed her face in his hands. "Are you okay? Did you get vacuumed? What happened to you?" He was completely shaken to the core.
"I got knocked out, I think," she lied. "I just remember running, and then I woke up and came looking for you. Where did you go?" She really wanted to scold him for being in the middle of the fight but knew it'd give her away.
"Not far once I realized you weren't with me. I came right back." Not a word was said about his knowledge of the inner workings of trombones. He ran his fingers over her hair, cheekbones, neck, shoulders, and down her arms. "I don't see any cuts or bumps. I think you're okay," he said, more for his benefit than hers.
"I'm really okay. Promise." Now that was the truth.
He let out a breath. "I just couldn't handle anything happening to you. And it was my idea to come, so it would be my fault."
"Nothing happened, and it wouldn't have been your fault anyway. The akuma is gone, and everything's fine again. Why don't we just go get lunch? I'll even fill you in on our resident bad guy. I'm sure they will get the festival back up and running for tomorrow, and we can try again. How's that sound?" She added a chipper smile to try to cheer him up.
He gave her a grateful smile and kissed her forehead. "You're perfect."
She giggled, tongue-tied at the compliment.
Luka draped his arm over her shoulder. "Let's get lunch. I'm actually really hungry. And now you can tell me about those two superheroes. They're obviously into each other," he observed casually.
"What? Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Marinette yelped. "They're not!"
Luka chuckled. "They are, my dear."
They continued this particular (vehement) disagreement all the way through lunch.
