Who Needs Love?
Episode 10
The Evillustrator: Drawing Closer to You
"Our next Science project will be done in pairs," Mme Mendeleiev tells the class, and her words are followed by the sound of cheering. "However, I will be picking the teams."
At this, the cheers are replaced with groans, and everyone tearfully says goodbye to the person they wanted to be with. They should've expected this—this is Mme Mendeleiev after all. She always decides everything and for everyone.
"Why can't we pick our own teams?" Kim asks, his elbow resting on his desk and his palm on his cheek.
"Because I've already decided, and no one's changing my mind. That's final," Mme Mendeleiev says strictly. She picks up the piece of paper with the teams written on them and says out loud, "For Team One—well, would you look at that—Kim and Alix."
Alix, who's sitting in front of Kim, turns around to glare at him. "I know how you are, and you better work," she glares. "Don't even think about leaving all the work to me, meathead."
"What're you going to do about it if I don't, pipsqueak?" Kim counters, leaning in to glare at the pink-haired girl. Alix punches his forehead, making him cry out in pain and mutter, "O-okay. I'll work."
Mme Mendeleiev rolls her eyes at her two students' interaction. It's a good decision, however, and she's not planning on making them switch partners anytime soon. Hard-working, hate-to-lose Alix might just help unmotivated, I-just-want-to-play-sports-all-day Kim. She continues, "Team Two, Ivan and Mylene."
Mylene, who's sitting at the front of the class, turns her head to take a glance at Ivan, who's sitting at the back. Once they have eye contact, Mylene turns back to the front and Ivan looks down at his desk, and both of their faces are bright pink.
"Team Three, Chloe and Sabrina," Mme Mendeleiev says, and she watches both girls high-five each other. Chloe would surely throw a fit if she isn't placed with Sabrina. It's the easy way out of trouble. (And let's face it—no one would want to work with Chloe besides Sabrina). (Mme Mendeleiev isn't that mean).
"Team Four, Rose and Juleka."
Rose's giggle echoes throughout the classroom, and the blonde takes Juleka's hands in hers. The two are best friends, inseparable, and separating them would be a sin.
"Team Five, Nino and Alya."
Nino, who's sitting in front of Alya, turns around to give her a fist-bump. "We are so going to kill this project," Alya grins. "I can taste the hundred-percent."
"Same here, man," Nino laughs, fixing his baseball cap. "This is going to be so much fun."
"You guys are so lucky you're together," Marinette frowns. "Being paired up with a friend is the best thing in the world."
"Yeah, seriously," Adrien says, joining in on the conversation. His eyes suddenly widen—something his friends clearly noticed. "Wait. If Nino and Alya are together… then…"
Marinette's face pales upon realizing what could possibly happen. "No. No, no, no," she says, shaking her head. "I'd rather be in a team with Chloe than be on a team with you."
"Oh yeah? Well, same here!" Adrien argues back, offended by her words. Chloe was his first friend, but she could be a bit mean and bossy and spoiled sometimes (aka all the time). And Adrien knows that Marinette dislikes Chloe with a passion, so to hear that he's below Chloe in her list, he feels a slight pang in his chest.
"Now, for our two last teams," Mme Mendeleiev says, fixing her glasses. Adrien and Marinette lean in, eager to hear the name of their teammate. Their Science teacher puts the paper down and says, "Team Six, Adrien and Max. Team Seven, Nathanael and Marinette."
While Marinette jumps with joy on the inside, Adrien is slightly disappointed. Max is a great guy, but he really did want to be with… someone else.
"Is that clear?" Mme Mandeleiev asks, and each one of her students but one answers her with a yes. The teacher shifts her attention to the one who didn't answer—Nathanael. He's looking down instead of looking up, and he appears to be drawing instead of listening. "Nathanael, I said, is that clear?"
Nathanael doesn't look up.
"Nathanael!" Mme Mendeleiev says slightly angrily. When the redhead doesn't give her a response, she stomps her way over to him and slams a hand on his desk, startling him. "Nathanael, what are you drawing?!"
"N-nothing!" Nathanael says, throwing his arms over his sketchbook to hide the comic he's currently working on.
"And these artistic endeavors are clearly why you are failing Science," the teacher says rudely, embarrassing poor Nathanael. "I'll bet you didn't even hear who your teammate is."
"T-teammate?" Nathanael stutters.
Mme Mendeleiev rolls her eyes and tells him, "You're on Team Seven with Marinette for the newest project. But since you were too occupied with other things, head right to the principal's office and explain everything to him. Go!"
Face red with embarrassment, Nathanael quickly picks his things up and begins walking towards the door. However, he accidentally trips over a backpack on his way there, sending his sketchbook flying out of his arms. The book falls open next to Chloe's desk, who laughs upon seeing the drawings on it.
"Look, Sabrina," Chloe cackles, pointing down at the sketchbook. "It's Nathanael as a superhero—and oh, look who he's hugging—it's Marinette! He's definitely crushing on you!"
Marinette displays a look of surprise when Nathanael hurriedly picks up his fallen item, and her eyes follow him until he rushes out of the classroom, his face as red as his hair.
"Nathanael… likes me?" Marinette asks herself quietly.
She fails to see the scowl that appears on Adrien's face upon hearing her words.
After class, Marinette packs up her things and gets up from her seat to look for her partner. Nathanael never came back after he left—Mme Mendeleiev and Chloe did embarrass him in front of the entire class. Marinette wouldn't be surprised if he wouldn't be able to look her in the eye after Chloe exposed his crush on her.
She walks around the school, asking around for Nathanael, but unfortunately, no one has seen him since Science class. Marinette walks into the library and sits on one of the study desks, placing her schoolbag on top of it.
She slumps in her chair, sighing, "Where are you, Nathanel?"
Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of familiar screaming, and Marinette turns around to see Chloe being chased by… a giant hairdryer?!
"No, not the hair! Get away!" Chloe shrieks, running around the library while shielding her blonde hair with her arms.
Once most of the students have evacuated the library, Marinette hides behind a shelf of books and opens up her bag to let Tikki out.
"An akumatized victim is clearly nearby," Marinette says. "TIKKI, TRANSFORM ME!"
After transforming, Ladybug jumps onto the second floor's railway to see where Chloe is. She catches sight of Chloe being cornered by it, and Ladybug jumps off the rails and onto the over-sized hairdryer.
"Hide!" Ladybug tells Chloe, who obeys. The hairdryer follows Chloe, however, and Ladybug can't do anything but hold on tight so that she wouldn't fall off.
"I got wind that you were being blown away by a hairy situation."
Ladybug turns around to see Chat Noir standing on top of a book shelf with his signature cocky grin. His staff is in his hand, but all he's doing is standing by and watching her get dragged away by the enormous item.
"Less puns, more action," Ladybug says through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, yeah," Chat Noir says, extending his weapon. He hurls it over his head and strikes, narrowly missing the hairdryer.
"Don't hit while I'm on it?!" Ladybug screeches in horror.
She throws her yoyo, grinning when it locks onto a nearby pole successfully. The hairdryer spins around the pole and falls down to floor, unmoving. Ladybug quickly jumps off, and Chat Noir finishes the job by hitting it with his staff. The hairdryer disintegrates in a spark of blue, angering the akumatized victim standing on the second floor railway.
Chat Noir, having heard the victim's grunt of dismay, turns around and sees him, commenting, "Well, that guy looks pretty sketchy."
Realizing that he's been seen, the villain makes a run for it, but stops when Ladybug and Chat Noir jump onto the railway as well. The two superheroes charge at him, groaning in pain when a blue-ish wall suddenly appears in front them. This allows the victim to escape successfully, and Ladybug and Chat Noir scowl for failing to catch him.
"Great, now where did he go?" Ladybug asks.
"I don't know, but he sure has a way of illustrating his point," Chat Noir says.
Ladybug slaps her forehead.
"It seems this Evillustrator's targeting you specifically, Chloe. Any idea why?" Chat Noir asks, crossing his arms.
He and Ladybug are currently in Chloe Bourgeois' room in the Grand Hotel de Paris, asking the blonde questions in order to help them figure out why the Evillustator did what he did. Chloe doesn't appear to be taking this interrogation seriously, as she's currently on her phone doing who-knows-what.
"Absolutely not!" Chloe says, flicking her wrist. "Everyone adores me."
"Yeah, because you're so adorable," Ladybug says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, my gosh!" Chloe exclaims, followed by a high-pitched squeal. "Ladybug just said I'm adorable! I'm so glad you agree! I totally need a picture of the two of us together!" Chloe takes out her cellphone, and taps selfie mode and presses the button to take a picture. The flash makes Ladybug blink a couple of times before getting up from her seat on Chloe's couch and walking away.
"That was unpleasant," Ladybug mutters, purposely loud enough for Chloe to hear.
Chloe appears to not have heard her rude remark. She says, "Well, I look great, of course, but your smile is a bit off." Chloe throws an arm around Ladybug and holds her cellphone up once more. "I'll take another!"
Ladybug pushes Chloe's hand off and says, "Sorry, I'm a bit camera shy."
"That's no way to behave around one of your fans," Chat Noir snickers. Now Ladybug can know how it feels to have Chloe constantly hanging on her arm.
"Yeah? You can have her," Ladybug sneers. "Convert her to Team Chat Noir. Seriously, I won't stop you."
"I think I'll pass on this one," Chat Noir says, waving his hands.
Ladybug glares down at the floor, when her eyes catch sight of a familiar piece of paper on Chloe's coffee table. Her eyes widen when she realizes that it's a page from Nathanael's comic book. Super-Nathan is holding Marinette in his arms, but round glasses and a mustache are drawn on her.
"Seriously?!" Ladybug screams, putting the picture down. "That's it! I'm leaving!" Ladybug stomps over to the balcony, and Chat Noir trails behind her.
"What's got you so worked up?" Chat Noir asks in confusion. "You're usually so willing to help anyone and everyone. What makes Chloe so different?"
Ladybug throws her yoyo in the air, and when it latches onto something, she jumps onto the rails of the balcony. "She's not anyone or everyone, she's no one," Ladybug says bitterly. She then pulls on her yoyo string, and swings off from building to building, until she's no longer in sight.
"What's with her?" Chat Noir asks.
Ladybug swings all the way back home and de-transforms the second she lands in her room from the trapdoor leading to her balcony. She takes her pink shoulder-purse off and angrily throws it on her bed, eyes widening when she hears a little squeak resound from it.
Tikki flies out of her purse and flies to her eye level. "That hurt," the kwami frowns, rubbing her forehead with her little hands.
"Sorry, Tikki," Marinette apologizes sincerely.
"What you said about Chloe back there wasn't every nice, Marinette," Tikki scolds, arms akimbo. Marinette frowns guiltily. "You sounded just like Chloe herself."
"Woah," Marinette says. "I didn't sound that mean, did I?" When Tikki nods at her, Marinette slumps onto her pink and white polka-dotted couch. "I'm sorry, Tikki. Chloe just makes me so… so angry. I just wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine. I just wanted her to see how it feels to be treated like nothing—and I knew it would've hurt her a lot because she loves Ladybug so much."
"I know how you feel, Marinette, but revenge is never the answer," Tikki says wisely. "Remember that."
Tikki suddenly lets out a gasp and flies into Marinette's purse, confusing the black-haired girl. "Tikki? What's—"
Marinette's a peculiar sound coming from behind her, and she turns around and gasps to see the Evillustrator erasing her window. He hops into her room once he's erased enough space for him to go through, and Marinette could only back up in fear.
"It's you! From the library!" Marinette exclaims. "What are you doing here?!"
"No, no! Please, don't be scared," the Evillustrator says. "I'm here because I just… wanted to see you."
"O-oh," Marinette says, his straight-forward answer making her face glowing pink. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you attack Chloe earlier?"
"Because Chloe is cruel and selfish!" the Evillustrator says, clenching his fists. "She had it coming. That's what she gets for treating everyone so terribly all the time."
"Can't argue with that," Marinette mumbles, looking away. She then looks back up at him, "Are you going to hurt… me?"
"You? No, o-of course not! You're Marinette!" he exclaims, looking down shyly with a faint blush on his cheeks. "You're beautiful and sweet and perfect and… I could never hurt you."
Marinette displays a look of shock. "Oh, th-thank you. That's really kind of you," Marinette says with a small smile.
"So, I just came by to ask you, if, uh," the Evillustrator stammers and scratches the back of his head. "Well, it's my birthday today, and, uh… would you come to my party?"
"Oh, actually, it's not really the best night," Marinette says, rubbing her arm. "I have a presentation to work on, and my teammate hasn't been contacting me, so I should probably go look for him or even start the project without him."
"I promise your teammate will work with you once all of this is over," he says, drawing a birthday invitation. He goes on one knee and presents it to her, and Marinette almost laughs because his action reminds her just so much of Chat Noir. "Oh please, Marinette! It'll just be you and me."
"Is that me?" Marinette asks in surprise, taking the invitation out of his hands. It's a little piece of paper, and on it is an animated version of herself, along with an animated version of the Evillustrator himself and a little birthday cake.
"D-do you like it?" he asks with a humble smile on his face.
Marinette takes a second look at the card, and sees the exclamation point logo. She briefly remembers seeing it on Nathaneal's ripped comic book page, and she grins at her lucky find. "I love it. You draw amazingly well," Marinette says sincerely. "Hm, alright. I'll come to your party. I'm sure my teammate would understand."
"Really?!" the Evillustrator says, eyes and smile bright.
Marinette nods. "But on one condition," she says, and the akumatized victim nods. "You can't hurt Chloe."
"For you and only you," the Evillustrator says. "Meet me in the love bank, next to Notre-Dame, at sunset!" He then draws a jetpack on his tablet, which appears on his back instantly. He flies out of the hole in her window, allowing Tikki to fly out of Marinette's purse.
"What are you thinking, Marinette?" Tikki asks. "Why did you do that?"
"Because I think I've figured out exactly who the Evillustrator might be," Marinette says, looking down at the exclamation point logo on the birthday card once again. "It's Nathanael, and we're going to catch him."
"We?" Tikki asks, tilting her head to the side. "How can we defeat him if you've got a date with him as Marinette?"
"By we, I mean me and Chat Noir," Marinette grins. "TIKKI, TRANSFORM ME!"
When Marinette becomes Ladybug, she immediately calls Chat Noir on her compact. He answers it with a rude, "What." His tone is so flat and uninterested and impolite, it makes Ladybug's eye twitch, and she resists the urge to yell at him. "Chat Noir, you can leave Chloe now."
"Really?" Chat Noir asks.
"I need you to protect this girl instead. Her name is Marinette," Ladybug sends him a quick picture of herself as Marinette. "Really cute, isn't she? The Evillustrator is in love with her, and promised not to harm Chloe as long as Marinette comes to his birthday party."
Chat Noir is silent for a few seconds, until: "So, basically, they have a date tonight?"
"I guess you could call it that," Ladybug says, not noticing the slight tremor in his voice. "She lives at the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Think you can handle this mission?"
"Wait, are you giving this akuma to me for free?" Chat Noir asks. "What's the catch?"
"Nothing," Ladybug says. "I'm not available tonight. So, I inevitably have to pass this one onto you."
"Cool. An automatic tally mark," Chat Noir says, and she could feel the grin in his voice. "Well, I'll see you on patrol tonight, I suppose. That Marinette needs a real hero to protect her. Later, My Lady."
When Chat Noir hangs up, Ladybug lets her transformation go, and Tikki comes floating up to her. "You know, I forgot just how rude he could be," Marinette sneers. "I gave him a free point, and he still has to insult me."
A thud suddenly resounds from the floor above her, and Marinette climbs up to the balcony to see what caused that loud noise. She's surprised to see Chat Noir already up there, and he's leaning on the rails flirtatiously.
"Hey there, Princess," he greets with a grin and a two-finger salute.
Marinette's face falls. "Princess?"
"Well, I don't know your name, so I thought I'd improvise," Chat Noir laughs. Actually, he does know her name, but he knows a lot better than that to say her name when she hasn't introduced herself yet. He would've sounded like a total creep.
Marinette finds herself staring at his smile—it's so kind and sincere, and he's never shown such a smile to Ladybug. If he's going to be nice to her (as Marinette), then she should cherish this moment.
"I see," Marinette laughs. "I'm Marinette. May I ask why you're here, Chat Noir?"
"Well, that birthday boy date of yours is bad news," Chat Noir says. "But don't worry. You'll be safe with me. I promise I'll keep you safe no matter what."
"Thank you," she smiles. "Um, if you don't mind me asking… Where's Ladybug?"
"Why should I care? We're not partners," Chat Noir snorts. His expression then softens, and he tells her, "But I'm willing to be partners with you tonight."
Marinette frowns for a split second, and it's too fast for Chat Noir to notice. He hates Ladybug so much to the point that he would even become partners with someone he met in the span of five minutes. She wants to ask him why he hates her so bad, but she's so scared of the answer, she stops herself before she could do so every time.
"I'm flattered," Marinette says with a fake smile. Inside, her heart is aching, but she can't let him know that. "I'm supposed to meet him at the love bank tonight at sunset. Be there by then."
"Got it," Chat Noir nods. "The akuma's probably in his drawing pencil, so try to get that away from him. I'll see you tonight, Princess."
Chat Noir jumps off her balcony and disappears beyond the streets of Paris, and Marinette could only watch as her temporary partner's figure disappears in the distance.
Marinette doesn't know exactly how he's going to pull this off, but she does know one thing…
She's excited to finally work with Chat Noir as a team.
When sky blue fades to a perfect blend of pink and purple and orange, Marinette starts walking in the direction of the Seine. She can see Chat Noir following her by jumping from roof to roof, and she breaks out into a wide grin when the thought of partnering up with him enters his mind.
She makes it to the love bank by the time the sun is fully set, and she sees the Evillustrator sitting on top of a boat's roof.
"Happy birthday," she says loud enough for him to hear.
He turns around to face her and his eyes evidently lights up. "Marinette!" The Evillustrator hops off the roof of the boat and lands flawlessly in front of her. "You came!"
"Of course I came," Marinette smiles as she looks into his eyes. They're mesmerizing—they're a mix of sky blue and sea green. She never noticed just how beautiful Nathanael's eyes are. She doesn't why he hides behind his hair as his normal civilian self.
"Thank you so much for accepting my invitation. It really means a lot," the Evillustrator tells her. He gestures for her to go first, to which Marinette obliges. They walk along the boat's walkway, and she marvels at the beautiful decorations.
"It looks amazing," Marinette comments absent-mindedly.
"You like it?" the Evillustrator asks with a wide grin. "Well, hold on, because I'm just getting started!" He jumps back onto the roof of the boat and tries to draw something, but dark clouds drift in the night sky and block the shining moon. The akumatized victim screams out to the skies above, "Come on, you've got be kidding me!"
His eyes widen, and he looks down to see a confused Marinette. She's never seen him so angry before. Nathanael has always been the kind and quiet type.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," he says, leaning down get light from one of the boat's lamps. "I can't draw properly in the dark."
Marinette makes an important mental note of that.
The Evillustrator draws a bright, full moon and places it just above the boat so that there would be light wherever he went. He then leads her to the front of a boat, where a bench is placed for them to sit on. Marinette takes a seat next to him, and the boat leaves as the Evillustrator plays music for them by drawing musical notes on his tablet.
While he's distracted by drawing, Marinette sees Chat Noir jump onto the boat from the corner of her eye. In order to block out any noise Chat Noir might accidentally make, Marinette decides to strike up a conversation.
"Um, can I ask you something?" Marinette asks, and the Evillustrator nods. "You're really talented in art, you know. I just don't understand why you want to use your power to hurt people."
"Not all people. Just Chloe," he scowls. "She embarrasses everyone and treats everyone the way no one should ever be treated. I just wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine."
Marinette's eyes widen at the familiar words, and her thoughts go directly to her conversation with Tikki earlier. She places an arm over the bench, making a Stop gesture with her hand to let Chat Noir know not to attack.
She feels bad admitting that she's never paid attention to Nathanael before. She knows he sits in the back in every class, and that they've been classmates for four consecutive years. But all she's known him as is the humble artist sitting in the back.
But somewhere along the way, he developed a crush on her, and she thinks that maybe they're more alike than she thought.
They both draw, and they both like someone who doesn't like them back.
She suddenly doesn't want to go through with the plan.
Marinette looks down. "I'm sorry you got akumatized on your birthday…" she says quietly.
The Evillustrator stops drawing and turns to her. "No! It's all right!" he says. "If I hadn't been, then… I never would have gotten the courage to actually talk to you." He gives her a small smile and places a hand on hers, making her look up at him. "Thank you for being so kind to me even though we've hardly ever talked."
"Treat others how you want to be treated, right?" Marinette says with a smile. "About Chloe… Don't hurt her. I don't like her either, but revenge is never the answer. Remember that."
Just as the Evillustrator is about to say something, an extended silver staff cuts in between them. They both look up to see Chat Noir standing on the roof of the boat, holding onto his weapon with an iron grip and a sour look on his face.
"Sorry to cut your date short, but she promised a date with me tonight too," Chat Noir says bitterly.
"Chat Noir, what are you doing?!" Marinette screams, but she stops when she sees the heartbroken look on the Evillustrator's face. "This isn't what it looks like, I promise."
"You're working with him…?" the akumatized victim falters, and then looks down sadly. "I'm so stupid to think you actually wanted to get to know me," he says, pain dripping in his voice. "What happened to treat others how you want to be treated? You're just like Chloe."
Marinette freezes at his words. Tikki said the same thing to her earlier. How many times is she going to keep being compared to Chloe? She wasn't that cruel, was she?
She doesn't say another word, and when she sees Chat Noir's staff shrink, she knows he's going straight to action.
The Evillustrator jumps on top of the moon he drew earlier, dodging Chat Noir's attack just in time. The black cat jumps, ready to strike it, when the victim draws a box and makes it fall over him. The box ends up trapping Marinette and Chat Noir, and he watches as they struggle helplessly to lift it up.
The Evillustrator lands next to the box and tells them, "Whether revenge is the answer or not, I'm taking back my promise. Chloe's going to get a little lesson she'll never forget!" He jumps onto the bridge and runs off into the night, leaving Marinette and Chat Noir behind to sink to the bottom of the seine with the boat.
Marinette pounds on the walls of the box with her formidable fists. "Chat Noir, why did you have to go and do that?!" she screams.
"You weren't sticking to the mission," he says, hitting the walls with his staff with a little more force.
"I was, but I was doing it without violence or lies!" Marinette responds sadly, her hand sliding down the wall of the box. "I feel so bad for Nathanael…"
Chat Noir feels jealousy rise up in his chest at her concern for the redhead. She's never this nice to Adrien, nor does she ever express any worry for him. But he brushes this feeling off because Marinette doesn't know he's really Adrien. She can't know. She'd be disappointed.
"Princess, hop on. Piggyback," Chat Noir says, pointing at his back. "I've got an idea."
Marinette obliges, and climbs onto his back. Chat Noir places his staff upwards and extends it, successfully lifting up the box. They manage to escape before the boat could sink any further, landing on the bridge above them.
"Good thinking," Marinette says, attempting to get down. Chat Noir isn't letting her, however, making her say, "Um, you can put me down now."
"We've got a date, remember?" Chat Noir smiles. "I can't keep my sights off of you, otherwise you might get hurt. You're helping me catch this guy and capture his akuma. We're partners for tonight, remember?"
At this, Marinette nods and holds on tighter when Chat Noir leaps from roof to roof to get to the Grand Hotel de Paris.
Chat Noir and Marinette arrive just in time to see Chloe being chased by a high heel five times her size. The superhero puts Marinette down before striking the stiletto heel with his staff, breaking it and making it dissolve in a spark of blue.
"Broke your heel," Chat Noir sniggers. "Better watch your ankles."
"In the comics, this is what's known as the final showdown," the Evillustrator says. "But you guys are protecting the wrong person! Chloe's the real villain here!"
"Me, a villain?" Chloe asks, placing a hand on her chest. "Everybody adores me!"
The Evillustrator turns back to his tablet and draws three over-sized boxing gloves. He fires them at each person in the room, sending one that's slightly smaller at Marinette. The black-haired girl gets picked up bridal-style by Chat Noir, and he leaps out of the way, dodging the two boxing gloves thrown in their way. He throws his staff in Chloe's direction, disintegrating the glove before it could hit Chloe in the face.
The akumatized victim then draws an enormous buzzsaw and sends it flying at Chloe, but Chat Noir manages to throw his staff right in the hole in the middle, thus preventing it from slicing Chloe's head off.
Chat Noir splits his staff in half and throws them at the Evillustrator to try to knock his tablet off of his arm, but the villain dodges them, making one staff hit the wall and the other smash one of the lamps on the wall. The Evillustrator reacts to this by moving to another lit-up lamp to draw.
"The light!" Marinette exclaims. "Chat Noir, he can't draw on the dark!"
Chat Noir's ears perk up. "I've got an idea," he says, and he whispers something in her ear. Marinette nods and goes straight to action, running towards the light switch to turn off the lights. The Evillsutrator, however, erases it before she could flick it off.
"You're not winning this one, Marinette!" the Evillsutrator says.
Marinette smriks. "I'm not, but he is!" she exclaims, pointing forward. The Evillustrator's eyes widen when he sees Chat Noir thrown his two staffs in opposite directions, smashing every wall lamp in their way. He was distracted by Marinette, and failed to see Chat Noir sneak up behind him to retrieve his weapon.
"That's not fair!" the Evillustrator cries, when his drawing pencil is suddenly knocked out of his hand. "No!" Chat Noir catches the item in mid-air and snaps it in two, releasing a black butterfly.
Chat Noir takes his staffs and snaps them back into one whole, and a shining green ball of energy forms at its tip. He catches the black butterfly in the same fashion as catching one with a butterfly net, trapping the butterfly inside the bubble. A burst of light shines from it, and when he releases the black butterfly, a white butterfly flies out of it instead.
"MIRACULOUS CHAT!" Chat Noir screams as he hits the floor with the end of his staff. Magic dust flies all around them and does its job of fixing everything that's been broken during the attack (but sadly, it can't fix a broken heart).
The Evillustrator turns back into Nathanael, who asks aloud, "What am I doing here?" He tries getting up on his feet, but to no avail, the drumming in his head preventing him from performing said action properly.
"You want me to leave you two alone to fix things up?" Chat Noir asks.
Marinette shakes her head. "I'll talk to him tomorrow. I think it's best to leave him alone for now."
The next morning in Mme Bustier's class, Nathanael flips through his sketchbook melancholically, frowning at the events of his birthday. Not only was he called out by his Science teacher, embarrassed by Chloe, and akumatized by Hawkmoth, but Marinette now knew that he liked her and she must think that he's a creep for drawing her in his comic without her permission. It's going to be so awkward to work on the project together, considering they're on the same team…
He sighs.
It was the worst birthday so far.
"Hi, Nathanael."
Nathanael turns in the direction the voice came from, and his face grows warm at the sight of Marinette smiling down at him. The last thing he expected was seeing a smile on her face after what he did to her.
"M-Marinette…!" Nathanael says in surprise. This familiar name makes Adrien turn his head around curiously, and he subtly watches them from his place at the front of the class.
Marinette takes a seat next to the redhead. "Happy belated birthday," she says.
Nathanael looks up at her in surprise. "You're not… mad?" he asks quietly.
She blinks. "Why would I be mad?"
"If the sources are true, I almost hurt you while I was akumatized…" Nathanael falters, looking down at his sketchbook.
Marinette places a comforting hand on his shoulder, making him turn to her and blush a deep scarlet. "I'm not mad, Nathanael. You were akumatized, so you couldn't control your actions. I should be the one apologizing…" She remembers the heartbroken look on the Evillustrator's face after realizing that she betrayed him, and she looks down guiltily.
"You don't have anything to apologize for," Nathanael says.
She looks back up at him and smiles sadly. "I'm just really sorry your birthday didn't go as well as you'd hoped. If it makes you feel any better, I got you a gift."
"No! Y-you shouldn't have," Nathanael says, waving his hands in front of him. "I'm just thankful you're not angry with me. That's enough for me."
"It's all right, really," she giggles. "I get all my classmates a gift, I just couldn't leave you out." She takes a black expensive-looking sketchbook out of her schoolbag and presents it to him. Nathanael accepts it graciously, and looks down at it as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
"Well, class is starting soon, so I'm going to head back to my seat," Marinette says, getting up. "Happy birthday again, Nathanael."
"Thank you, Marinette," Nathanael says, smiling back at her. He watches her walk back to her seat and when she's seated, he looks down at his new sketchbook.
He smiles.
Scratch that—it was the best birthday so far.
"What's she acting so nice to him for?" Adrien grumbles in his place. After witnessing the interaction between Nathanael and Marinette behind him, and he turns back around with a sour look on his face at the end of their conversation. He huffs, "She's never that nice to me."
Nino smirks, taking his place next to Adrien. "Looks like someone's jealous," he says in a sing-song voice.
"Jealous? Don't make me laugh," Adrien scoffs. He rests his elbow on the desk and places a hand on his cheek, glaring a hole through the blackboard in front of him. Nino shoots a knowing look at Alya, who brings a hand to her mouth and laughs into her palm.
"What's so funny?" Marinette asks, taking her usual seat next to Alya.
"It's—" Alya begins.
"Clearly none of your business," Adrien spits, cutting Alya off. He turns his head slightly to the left to glare at her with one eye.
Marinette's face flushes. "I wasn't asking you!"
Adrien turns his entire body around, shouting back, "No need to shout!"
"You're shouting now!"
"Because you're shouting!"
Nino and Alya sigh at the bickering couple and look at each other with a tired smile on their faces. They never seem to run out of energy when it comes to arguing.
"This whole Evillustrator episode just brought them closer," Alya says, taking a quick glance at the still-smiling Nathanael behind her.
"Or you could say…" Nino pushes his glasses up and grins, "He drew them closer."
Alya smacks him in the back of his head, and she and Nino start arguing as well. The two pairs continue to argue even when Mme Bustier enters the classroom, and the teacher could only sigh in exasperation at her students.
It's way too early for this.
end card
A/N: The ending between Nathanael and Marinette is inspired by Le Dessinateur Fan Ending by Kelly Kao. I like it so much better than the actual ending in the show…
I took the Sabrina subplot out because no. Instead of the episode being centered around Nathanael, it was centered around Sabrina and Chloe?! And Marinette didn't even talk to Nathanael after he was de-akumatized?! I was so disappointed. ;-; (Because I love Nathanael okay he's so precious). (And I kind of ship Nathanette).
We got a bit of Jealous!Adrien/Jealous!Chat in this chapter, as well as a good dose of MariChat! Since Marinette finally admitted her crush on Chat Noir last chapter, and Adrien (though he refuses to admit it) has one on Marinette, it's a bit refreshing seeing them so kind towards each other, isn't it? It's nice having them like each other for their actual selves instead of their flawless counter-parts. ;w;
Thank you for the favorites, alerts, and kind reviews! Shout-out to the wonderful Alexa10110 for being the 100th reviewer!
Thank you for reading!
Akuma Capture:
Ladybug: 6
Chat Noir: 5
Next Episode: Rogercop