Hey, all! Sorry this took so long. I got so caught up with my classes and writing other romance one-shots and other stories for this fan base that I lost track (and some motivation) of this story in particular.
So, in this chapter, Marinette and Cat Noir have to work together again! Marinette is participating in a fashion design competition, but the security is so tight, including cameras and guards, that Marinette can't transform! What is she going to do?!
The moon and stars were shining over the Paris skyline. The trio of Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Siren were patrolling around the city, keeping an eye out for any mischief that Hawkmoth would cook up.
Ladybug took the eastern side of Paris while Cat Noir was prowling around the western part of Paris. Siren, as always, was looking for signs of trouble from the Seine. For the moment, all was quiet.
As Siren was swimming around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the river.
Siren felt her shell vibrating and then picked it up. Ladybug had given her a call.
"What's up, Ladybug?" Siren asked.
"All clear on my end. What about you, kitty?" Ladybug asked. Cat Noir's face popped up and the screen was split.
"No sign of trouble over here, either. Siren?" Cat Noir said, before asking their resident mermaid.
"Water's about as quiet as it can get over here," Siren said, shaking her head. "But before we wrap things up, I need to talk to you guys face-to-face. It's important."
The threesome had rendezvous under the bridge. Siren had informed her team that she would not be able to fight off any akumas for a while.
"So, you're going to be out of town starting on Wednesday?" Ladybug asked.
"More like out of France," Siren explained. "I have to go to America for a family obligation. I'll be gone for about a week."
"It won't be the same without you, Siren," Cat Noir said, giving their mermaid a sad shake of the head. "Especially since Hawkmoth's akumas are getting harder and harder. But we'll make sure to keep things under control while you're gone."
"Thanks. I'll stay up to date through the Ladyblog just in case," Siren said, nodding to her team. "I'm confident you'll be okay, but at the same time, I'm a little angry that I can't help."
"I don't blame you," Cat Noir said. "You must have felt useless when you got sick that one time."
Siren nodded, and said, "I did feel useless. When you guys went and took down those two akumas while I had a cold, it made me feel and think, "What's so special about me? What do I bring to the table? Am I even needed?" And if you guys do somehow find a way to fight underwater, that will make me feel even worse."
"You'll always be important to the team, Siren," Ladybug said. "Don't forget that."
"Thank you," Siren said, as she then checked the time on her shell's clock. "I think we should call it a night."
"Probably a good idea," Cat Noir said. "No signs of trouble, so I think I can take a catnap."
Siren and Ladybug merely let out a groan. Cat's puns were getting more and more annoying.
"See you soon." Siren said. She then started swimming upriver to get closer to her house.
The following Wednesday afternoon, Rochelle was absent from school. She had informed her friends ahead of time that she had to go back to New Orleans for the week to attend the memorial service of Achille DeL'eau, her father.
Needless to say, everyone was expecting Chloé to have a field day tormenting since Rochelle was not around to put her in her place. But for some reason, she was quiet.
Sabrina had seen this change in the blonde ever since Lady Laryngitis. Everyone in the classroom noticed it, too.
Without Chloé's crap being spewed around, everyone could relax. This also gave Marinette time to work on her design for a competition that was coming up that weekend. Dresses were the subject, but the dress's design and occasion – wedding, cocktail, formal, etc. – was to the discretion of the competitors. In other words, it had to be a dress, but the contestants were given artistic license for the remaining details.
"Hey, Alya," Adrien said, approaching her and Marinette's shared bench. "What's Marinette up to?"
Adrien had wanted to talk to Marinette about the fashion design competition. Since he knew it was important to her, he wanted to inform her that he was rooting for her. Adrien also hoped that his father would once again recognize his classmate's abilities.
"Shh!" Alya hushed, putting a finger to her lips. "Don't interrupt. Marinette's working on her designs for her entry. She's in the zone, so don't break her concentration."
Adrien nodded and looked over Marinette's sketches from a distance. Needless to say, he was impressed yet again by her talent and skills. Seeing the variety of dresses and how much skill they would require was a marvel to him. However, as he tried to lean closer to get a better look and possibly speak to Marinette, she merely waved him away.
Adrien, surprised that Marinette would brush him off instead of stammering like always, smiled and merely went back to his seat.
Marinette was on a roll. It was full steam ahead for her. She had several dresses in her sketchbook, all in different styles to many different occasions.
The reason she had so many designs was because this was yet another competition that was being judged by Gabriel Agreste. This meant two things for Marinette. One: she had another chance to get recognized by her. Two: if Adrien was in attendance, she wanted to make sure she would be able to talk to him clearly without losing focus on the competition.
Adrien sat in his usual spot next to Nino, and he turned around to keep watching the pigtailed girl working in her sketchbook.
He turned to his best friend and cupped a hand over his mouth.
"I think her chances of taking first prize are pretty good," Adrien whispered to Nino. "Those designs are pro-level."
"Spoken like the son of the world's top fashion designer. You know your stuff." Nino whispered back.
Adrien nodded in response and then said, "Marinette is great at what she does. I have no doubt that the dress will be really well-made, no matter what she decides to do."
Adrien smiled as he turned back to watch Marinette at work. Immediately, Adrien could have sworn he saw Ladybug's mask on her face for a moment.
'Yikes, ever since that stupid swim competition between Colbert and Kim, I keep seeing parallels between Ladybug and Marinette…' Adrien thought. 'What's wrong with me?'
Since Marinette absolutely failed to notice Adrien was talking to her, she was able to churn out many concepts in her sketchbook without stumbling.
'Okay… So, a bracelet petal sleeve? No, for this design, it needs something a little more dynamic…' Marinette thought, as she was wondering about another design she was working on.
The dress she was designing this time was a wedding dress. She knew that it would probably be out of the question for the competition, considering her lack of access to resources and the time constraints, but she decided to have this design in her back pocket just in case.
Marinette was so absorbed in designing that she tuned out everything and everyone. Even the fact that Adrien was trying to talk to her went over her head.
All of her peers were surprised that she did not react to her crush at all, and this included Tikki.
"There. That should be enough for now," Marinette said, as she closed her sketchbook and put it away. She then turned to Alya, who was looking at her as if she had two heads. "What?"
"Girl, Adrien wanted to talk to you, but you were so focused on designing that you didn't notice!" Alya said.
"Wh-Wh-WHA-HUH?!" Marinette spluttered, nearly falling out of her seat.
Adrien could not help but chuckle at his classmate's clumsiness. There was just something so endearing about it that he could not help but once again be reminded of Ladybug.
'What, again? Great, I'm comparing Marinette and Ladybug for the umpteenth time. What am I going to do?' Adrien thought, as his feelings were getting confused.
He knew he had feelings for Ladybug, but at the same time, he began to notice Marinette at some point. Adrien had no idea how it happened, but he did not mind. In all honesty, he thought it was pleasant, finding more common traits between the two girls.
He knew Marinette was a little jittery around him, and he only just started to notice that Ladybug would act the same way around him at times. But as Cat Noir, both girls seemed to be able to speak clearly around him, as if at ease.
Frustrated with his discombobulating thoughts and emotions, Adrien just signed and resigned himself to wondering what to do about future interactions with Marinette.
In the meantime, he would keep an eye out for any potential akuma activity. Since Rochelle was back in America and Hawkmoth's villains were getting stronger, he and Ladybug would have to step up their game in order to combat upcoming akumas while their mermaid pal was out of the picture.
As much as Adrien loved cutting loose whenever an akuma attacked, he knew that there were times he wished Hawkmoth did not strike. He internally prayed that thief of the Butterfly Miraculous would leave people alone for the week.
Unknown to him, Marinette was hoping for the same thing. She did not want any interference with the competition.
Once the final bell for the day rang out, everyone stood up from their seats to go home for the day.
Marinette decided to head straight home, do her homework, and then get right on to her entry design. She would not let anything other than akumas distract her from her artistry.
As she was walking through the schoolyard to leave and head home, she failed to notice that she was being watched.
The person who had his eye on her was Adrien. He kept looking at Marinette, as if examining her or trying to find something wrong.
Adrien had been having trouble separating Marinette and Ladybug as of late, but he was not hiding it very well. Then again, he was a model, not an actor.
Nino took notice of his confusion while his best friend was examining the pigtailed designer.
"Adrien, are you okay?" Nino said, waving his hand in front of Adrien's face.
Snapping out of his stupor, Adrien shook his head and said, "Oh, um, I'm fine."
"Then why do you look like Marinette just sprouted wings or something?" Nino asked.
'I can't say, "Hey, Nino, doesn't Marinette remind you of Ladybug?" He'd notice something was up!' Adrien thought, trying to come up with an excuse.
"I'm just curious about the design Marinette plans on choosing for the competition." Adrien said.
"Is that all?" Nino asked, teasing his best friend.
"What are you getting at?" Adrien asked, turning to Nino with a quirked brow.
"I think you're finally starting to take notice of her," Nino said, nudging Adrien. "You might be beginning to like her."
Adrien's face went as red as Ladybug's mask at that statement. That was the last thing he expected to think. On the other hand, he did not feel that there was anything wrong with liking Marinette, in spite of his feelings for Ladybug. In fact, something about it felt right, but he could not figure out why.
As he was pondering this possibility, he heard the honking of his chauffer's car horn. Immediately realizing what that meant, Adrien bid Nino goodbye for the day and then went off into the limousine.
~New Orleans, Louisiana, USA~
Rochelle was at the cemetery. The ceremony had ended a little while ago, but she was still hanging around.
She was wearing a simple, black dress with matching shoes. She had a belt around her waist and she was wearing a black mesh stole around her arms.
Rochelle looked at the tombstone in the ground. Since there was no one nearby, save for her mother, Rochelle lifted her hair up and let Finni come out.
"That ceremony was so moving. I never thought I'd learn so much about your dad." Finni said.
Rochelle merely nodded before kneeling down on the ground. She rubbed her hand alongside the stone, sighing sadly.
The epitaph read:
"Achille DeL'eau
Devoted Father and Husband
Olympic Level Swimmer."
"Wow… Your father was quite an amazing man." Finni said.
"He was. I miss him so much, Finni," Rochelle said, as she once again rubbed the stone. "I wish I could see and speak to him again, if only for a moment."
All she wished for Achille to be with her for a little while. She wanted to tell him so much about her new life in Paris, including her friends and becoming Siren.
Her life had never been so fulfilling ever since Achille had passed on. Now that she was a superheroine protecting Paris, she felt that she could make her father proud in ways she never could before. Becoming a champion swimmer like him would be one way, but now she became the heroic mermaid her father wanted her to be. To her, it was even more invigorating.
"Dad…" Rochelle said, crying. As a tear fell onto the grass beneath her, the spot the salt water touched started to glow.
The stone itself started to glow in shade of Bleu de France. Out of nowhere, someone emerged from the ground. It was an older man, in his mid-thirties, with short, red hair, and the same sea-foam green eyes that Rochelle had. He was very muscular, and was wearing a work suit. He was an ethereal projection of Achille DeL'eau's spirit, glowing periwinkle.
He smiled down at Rochelle, knelt to the ground, and placed a hand on her shoulder. As if sensing his presence, Rochelle looked up and saw her father.
"D-D…Daddy?" Rochelle asked.
He nodded, and said, "It's been ages, Rochelle."
"Dad!" Rochelle squealed, as she hugged her father's spirit and started sobbing.
"It's alright now… I'm glad you've come back to see me," Achille said, as he gently started rubbing his daughter's head. "My little mermaid."
Rochelle stifled a sob and laughed at this nickname. Her father would always call her his "little mermaid" as a term of endearment, and Rochelle could not help but think about how ironic it was to be called that now.
"I've missed you so much, dad…" Rochelle said, as she broke the hug and looked at her father.
"And I've missed you, ma fille," Achille said, before turning to the little kwami next to his daughter. "And Finni, it's very nice to meet you."
"I-I-It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Achille DeL'eau, sir!" Finni said, nervous to meet Achille.
"Haha," Achille said. "No need to be so stiff, Finni. You've been so good to my little girl. I'm happy that the kwami of the Mermaid Miraculous has been such a good friend to Rochelle."
Rochelle then spoke up and said, "I wanted to tell you about my life in Paris. So much has happened."
"No need. I've seen you in action as Siren, and I'm so proud of you," Achille said with a laugh. "My final resting place may be here in New Orleans, but I'm always watching over you and Marissa, even all the way in the City of Lights."
"Speaking of which, Dad," Rochelle said. "You knew I was fated to become Siren, didn't you?"
"Indeed," Achille said. "I always knew you would hold the Mermaid Miraculous when the time came. It would always gravitate towards you as a baby. Marissa and I never told you because you would probably think we were crazy. That, and it was one of those things we had to leave up to fate."
"Oh, dad…" Rochelle said. "There's so much about the past Sirens I want to know, but I honestly doubt you have that information. That ancestor of yours must have been pretty amazing."
"I wouldn't know," Achille said with a shrug. "Again, that was over eight-hundred years ago. All the documentation about that particular person has most likely changed hands or got destroyed."
"Oh, krill…" Rochelle said, muttering in annoyance. "What am I going to do?"
"You shouldn't let the past bother you too much, Rochelle," Finni said. "What matters now is that you are helping your friends fight off those akumas."
"Ah, yes," Achille said, shaking his head. "You, Adrien, and Marinette are doing a fine job taking care of those butterflies. I just wonder what on earth Hawkmoth's motivation is."
"I have no idea, and there's no telling what he'd do should he get his greedy hands on those stones," Rochelle said. "All the more reason to keep an eye on everything when I get back to Paris."
Rochelle looked up to the sky, wondering how everyone was doing back in Europe. She hoped that no akumas had attacked as of yet. She wanted in on the action.
~Back in Paris, France~
Marinette was in her bedroom, putting the finishing touches on yet another one of her sketches. This time it was a lavender, one-shoulder dress with an angel sleeve, mid-calf skirt with sequins on the hem, and blue roses embroidered on the skirt and bodice.
"Nice work, Marinette! With all of these ideas, I'm sure one of them will be a shoo-in for first place!" Tikki said.
"Thanks, Tikki," Marinette said. "I just hope Hawkmoth doesn't cause any trouble. It's been hard enough keeping up with these akumas, but now that Rochelle's out of town, it's going to be even more challenging to deal with them. Cat Noir and I can only do so much alone. Maybe we should talk to Master Fu about getting extra backup?"
"We'll worry about that when the time comes. For now, just relax and keep designing! Let your creative juices go!" Tikki said, as she did loops and spins in the air.
Marinette giggled at her kwami before returning to her sketches. She was still on the fence about which one to choose. She wanted to make sure the one she chose would be a winner.
"Okay, since some of these features are things I haven't done before, I might as well practice!" Marinette said, as she pushed away from her computer and went to her sewing station.
She took out her pin cushion and a set of glass beads that she had found. Marinette had pulled up a video tutorial on her phone about sewing beads onto a dress.
Marinette found a bit of leftover blue fabric from one of her other projects. Rather than waste new materials that could be used for the competition, Marinette decided to use up her scraps. She took a needle and some matching blue thread. She made sure the needle was the right size so the bead could slide on the needle and the thread.
She threaded the needle and then she poked the needle into the fabric, and pulled it out from the other side. Marinette doubled back by poking the needle through the fabric again, nearby the hole she made, and then threaded it through again. She then threaded the needle into the tail of the thread, and made a knot. She cut the tail with her scissors, being careful not to undo the knot, and then she threaded the needle back through the hole where the knot was on the fabric and out to the other side. Marinette took a bead, threaded it onto the needle, and then stuck the needle through the fabric again, being sure to the pull the threads where necessary.
Marinette kept doing this for a few hours, stopping whenever she pricked herself or needed to rest her hands. She kept looking at other video tutorials to find other things to practice for the competition.
Marinette was so excited, because there was just too much she wanted to try with her dress. On the other hand, she knew that overdoing it with techniques and skills would kill her in the competition.
"Wow, Marinette," Tikki said, as she saw all of the practice projects Marinette did. "Now I'm sure you'll be able to win no matter what design you choose!"
Marinette could not help but smile at her little friend's encouragement.
Time passed in the blink of an eye, and the day of the dress competition was upon Marinette before she knew it. Luckily for her, it seemed like Hawkmoth was taking a vacation. There had not been any akumas over the course of the week.
Marinette internally prayed that her ladybug luck would carry over for the whole day.
Marinette was on her way to the competition, and she had a giant tote bag in hand. It carried fabrics for her dress, her sewing kit, and other supplies that she would need such as needles, scissors, measuring tape, etc. There would be some things provided for her, but the rules stated that she would need to bring her own tools and materials. Her destination was the Grand Palais, the chosen venue.
Once she reached the door, she said, "Hello, I'm here for the dress contest."
"Right here." The receptionist said, as she handed Marinette a clipboard and asked her to sign in.
"Thank you." Marinette said, as she signed her name and what category she was in for the competition.
"Alright, then, Marinette," The receptionist said. "You're entry #2911 in the Teen Category. Your station is number #43."
Marinette gave a nod and she immediately started to make her way to her assigned workspace.
Since it was an exhibition competition, every contestant was provided with a workstation. The workstations were organized by category, and each one had a sewing machine and mannequin, amongst other hardware that would probably be needed.
As soon as she entered the building, Marinette looked around at the grandeur of the contest. Everyone was sewing, cutting fabric, sketching, etc. They were all so focused.
Seeing everyone working hard made her feel a little intimidated, and she started to shuffle her feet.
"Come on, Marinette!" Tikki whispered from Marinette's purse. "You've got this! If you can save Paris time and time again, then this should be a cinch."
Marinette looked to her little friend and nodded, feeling a confidence boost from her kwami. She immediately made a dash for her assigned station.
Over in the Professional section, Adrien was walking around and looking at all of the designers and the dresses they were making.
The primary reason he was there was because Gabriel mandated that Adrien attend the competition. Adrien once again did so without complaint, but as usual, his father never made time for him. Gabriel was nowhere to be found in the Grand Palais.
"Looks like your father bailed out again," Plagg said as he peeked out from Adrien's shirt. "You'd think he'd show up to host his own competition."
"I know. But to be honest, I think the majority of these competitors would not even make the cut by my father's standards." Adrien muttered.
Having been in the modeling business for such a long time, he had a good eye for fashion. Thus, he could tell what would go over well with his father and what would not.
"Well, there is one saving grace about this," Adrien said. "I get to see Marinette hard at work."
"Oh, really?" Plagg teased. "Are you sure it isn't because you're starting to fall for her?"
Adrien once again blushed, and then he insisted, "Plagg, stop it. Marinette's just a friend! Speaking of whom, let's see what she's up to."
Plagg slapped himself in the face before going to hide again. Adrien started to make his way to the teen section of the event.
Over at her station, Marinette was working on her dress, fully focused on making sure every detail was complete and perfect.
She was working on a pale yellow, lower-calf-length surplice dress that had butterfly angel sleeves. The dress itself was made with batiste fabric and the tiers of the skirt had a layer of matching color georgette fabric underneath each tier tor softness and comfort.
Marinette was setting up her station to add beads to the hems of the batiste tiers of the skirt. She took out her needles, pin cushion, pale yellow thread and a darker set of yellow beads and made to get to work.
"Looking good so far, Marinette." Tikki whispered from Marinette's purse. She was eating a cookie to keep her energy up. One never knew when an akuma could strike.
"Thanks, Tikki," Marinette whispered. "But I haven't seen any sign of…"
"Hey, Marinette!" Adrien said, as he approached her station.
"KYAH!" Marinette screamed, as she stood up in fright and nearly ruined her dress. She turned around and saw Adrien standing there. "Oh, A-Adrien, hi."
"I didn't mean to scare you." Adrien said.
"It's… Fine," Marinette said, as she collected her thoughts and tried to focus on her current situation. "Is your father around?"
"He won't be coming," Adrien said, sadly. "And honestly, I'm only here because you're competing."
Marinette blushed and said, "I-I-I am? I mean, really? You're here because I am? Wh-What's so special about me, anyway?!"
"Don't talk like that, Marinette," Adrien said, trying to give her a confidence boost. "You won that derby hat competition all on your own. You're really talented, Marinette."
Marinette merely gave Adrien a smile. He smiled back, as he felt once again saw a red and black-spotted mask appear on her face for a second. Adrien shook his head a bit before saying, "So… I'll leave you to it."
Adrien turned away to leave Marinette to her work before he could do something stupid. He could have sworn he heard Plagg chuckling under his shirt. Adrien dropped sweat at that.
Meanwhile in the Amateur section, one young woman, with long, curly blonde hair, brown eyes, tan skin, and freckles was working on her entry. Her name was Amélie.
She was working on a very ornate silk wedding dress. It was pure white, floor-length, had cotton lace inlays, amongst other features. Amélie knew it was ambitious and was pressed for time, but she really wanted to get this dress done. She was embroidering some doves onto the sleeves of the dress.
However, one of her competitors was struggling with his own dress. His name was Claude, and he was definitely on the gloomy side in terms of style, but his demeanor was a whole different story. He was a perky fellow with a love for the arts, including fashion.
He was wearing rubber gloves and had some other tools and ingredients on hand near his station. Claude carrying a large bucket of hot water, but Claude had dissolved black dye in it. His particular dress was a modern take on a gothic Lolita, emphasizing the goth part. He wanted this dress to work, considered how left-field the thinking was.
As Claude was making his way over to the dress, he failed to notice some electrical cords on the ground. His foot snagged, and then he tripped with a scream. The bucket of dye flew out of his hands, and then it landed right on top of Amélie's wedding dress.
Amélie screamed in horror and fright. Seeing the black dye seeping into her pure white wedding dress was a nightmare.
"NO! MY DRESS!" She screamed.
Everyone started to turn away from their entries to look over at the commotion. Seeing the horrified look on Amélie and Claude's faces, the crowd looked aghast and some of them even covered their mouths.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Amélie shouted to Claude, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm so sorry, Mademoiselle!" Claude said. "It was an accident, I swear!"
"But my dress is ruined!" Amélie complained. "Whoever heard of a black wedding dress?!"
"I… I hear there are brides all over the world who are shaking up the wedding dress color choices, including black." Claude said, trying to be of some comfort.
"NO! Wedding dresses are supposed to be white! Pure, untainted, innocent! Not BLACK! That's symbolic of death and sin!" Amélie complained, falling to her knees and crying. She turned back to Claude. "What kind of fabric was that dye made for?!"
"Nylon and polyester fabrics…" Claude sheepishly replied.
Amélie screamed in anger and hollered, "MY DRESS WAS SILK AND COTTON! THE DYE WILL NEVER GET OUT!"
Amélie stood up, covered her face in shame, and ran off to another part of the contest. She was still holding some of her sewing needles in hand, but she did not care.
Claude felt horrible for what he had done. As a fellow fashion designer, he understood how artists in any field can be when something gets ruined, especially a wedding dress. He was devastated that he accidentally ruined another entrant's work and wished he could reverse the damage.
'Where's Ladybug's miraculous cure when you need it?' Claude thought, sadly.
Meanwhile, a window opened up who-knows-where in Paris. The light shone in and several white butterflies flew about. There was a tall man wearing a silver mask, a purple suit, and a purple brooch on his neck: Hawkmoth.
"Ah, the pain of a fashion designer having her latest creation ruined! A pain I know all too well," Hawkmoth said. "Perfect!"
He opened his gloved hand, and a white butterfly landed on it. He covered it with his other hand and then infused it with black energy. When he lifted his hand, the butterfly had turned blackish-purple and then he released it.
"Fly away, my little akuma, and evilize her!" Hawkmoth declared, as the butterfly left out the window.
The lone insect fluttered all the way to the Grand Palais. It soon found Amélie, huddled in a corner and crying, with her sewing needles in her hand. The butterfly slipped in undetected and landed on her needles. A red butterfly mark appeared on Amélie's face.
"Fashionista, I am Hawkmoth. I will give you the necessities to seek revenge on behalf of your artistry, but you must get me Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous." Hawkmoth said, through the telepathic connection he established.
Amélie gave a shaky nod and then a purplish-black cloud engulfed her. When she emerged, her blonde hair had turned black and it became all ratty, frizzy, filled with knots, split ends, and was all over the place. Her clothes became all mismatched. She was wearing a very vibrant red women's suit top with a tear in the right sleeve. The left sleeve was intact but rolled up to her elbow. The bottom she was wearing was a very long, pale lavender skirt with rips in the bottom hem. She was holding a giant sewing needle in her right hand, and she had a hot pink fingerless glove on it. Her left hand had a full-length opera glove in bright orange. On her waist was a gold sewing kit. She was wearing a robin-egg blue high heel on her right foot while she was wearing a brown hiking boot on her left foot.
"Time to show that fashion phony what craftsmanship really is!" Fashionista said, as she cackled like a hyena.
She then flew out of her hiding spot and started to attack the competitors. She lifted up her sewing needle and then conjured up some silk. Using her needle, Fashionista started manipulating the fabric and using it as a weapon. She would knock over people's workstations, wrap them up in her chosen fabric to constrict them, etc. Fashionista would make threads appear out of thin air to turn people into makeshift puppets or conjure up random pieces of clothing and force them to become models for her designs.
"Hahahaha! Where are you, Ladybug and Cat Noir?" She asked, teasingly. "Your Miraculous won't give themselves to me!"
As Adrien kept walking around the Grand Palais, he started to hear all the racket. He immediately ducked behind a wall and secretly peeked out to look at the Amateur section.
He saw displays and workstations that had been ruined, stray fabric lengths strewn all over the place, everyone scattering around in fright, dyes and other materials were spilled everywhere and Fashionista was reveling in all of it.
"Oh, crap, another akuma," Adrien thought aloud. "And just when Rochelle's out of town, too! Plagg, Claws -"
"NO!" Plagg hissed. "Not with all of the guards and security around!"
Adrien looked around and saw his kwami was right: there were too many guards, witnesses, and security cameras around to transform properly.
"Then we'll take this outside." Adrien said, before running straight out of the building to go and find somewhere else to change into Cat Noir.
Meanwhile, Marinette had taken to hiding for cover under her worktable as Fashionista was blasting people left and right, forcing them into tacky clothes, wrecking the entire hall.
"I can't transform like this!" Marinette whispered to Tikki. "It's too chaotic!"
"I concur. And the security is extra tight. We can't fight until we get out of here." Tikki replied, before zipping back into Marinette's purse.
Marinette tried to get up, but she bumped her head underneath the table. Fashionista took notice and used her needle to blast the table away.
"Oh no…" Marinette said, her eyes widening in panic. Fashionista sneered at her as she approached, readying her needle to attack.
"Another cute little mannequin for my art! Perfect!" Fashionista cackled, as she pointed her needle at Marinette. "Let's see… A nice, frilly, frou-frou dress with plenty of pale pink! Perfect for a cutie like you!"
Marinette was flattered at being called "cute," but she knew she was in trouble.
The needle started to glow, and Marinette immediately realized that was where the akuma was hiding. Fashionista blasted some pink fabric and thread out of her needle at Marinette, and she braced herself.
However, nothing came. Marinette peeked out to see Cat Noir spinning his baton to make it act like a shield and deflected all of the fabric and threads away. Once the onslaught stopped, Cat Noir jumped up and kicked Fashionista away, before turning to Marinette.
"I'll get you out of here, Princess!" Cat Noir said, as he immediately scooped Marinette up like a bride and started running out of the room with the greatest speed possible.
As Fashionista kept shooting fabrics at them, Cat Noir ducked and dodged everything while protecting Marinette from the barrage of clothing materials. Marinette herself was clinging to him for dear life. Sure, she really had nothing to fear with him around, but the whole situation was scary. Since she could not change into Ladybug, it complicated matters.
Once they were on the rooftop of the building and out of the danger zone, the cat boy put Marinette down and the pair started to catch their breath.
"You okay?" Cat Noir asked.
"I'm fine…" Marinette said. "But we – er, I mean, you and Ladybug need to stop her!"
"I know, but I don't know what's taking her so long…" Cat Noir said, looking around and wondering what on earth his red and black partner was up to.
'Crap, I can't transform. What am I going to do?' Marinette thought, wondering what she was capable of that moment.
She tried to think of where the akuma could be hiding in, and the only thing that stuck out to her when confronted with Fashionista was her giant sewing needle.
"It wouldn't surprise me if the akuma was in her sewing needle…" Marinette muttered.
"Hey, that actually might be true," Cat Noir said, having heard her. "How did you know? Did you see Fashionista get akumatized?"
Marinette floundered and then she said, "I, um… Well, she's a fashion-themed akuma, isn't she? Being an aspiring fashion designer myself, I thought that made the most sense, especially since it is her weapon."
Marinette sweat dropped, hoping Cat Noir bought that lie. It was actually pretty sound, since a lot of weapons of victims in the past were where the akuma was hiding. The Bubbler's bubble sword; Stormy Weather's parasol; Lady Wifi's phone; Darkblade's fencing sword; Princess Fragrance's perfume bottle. And there were so many others, too.
"Marinette, right? We've met a few times in the past," Cat Noir said to her. "You're competing in this?"
"Right. I was planning on making a dress with techniques I've been practicing, but then this happened…" Marinette began.
This gave Cat Noir an idea: since Marinette had some fashion expertise, she could help by pointing him in the right direction.
"Since Ladybug's MIA right now, think you can help me out again, like with Evillustrator?" Cat Noir inquired.
"I'd…" Marinette began, and then Tikki nudged her, signaling that it was a good idea. "I'd be honored!"
"Great. You know your stuff with fashion, so I'll need your knowledge for this battle. Hope you don't mind getting into the crosshairs." Cat Noir said.
"Anything to help until Ladybug gets here." Marinette said, with confidence.
She may not be Ladybug at the moment, but it was better than sitting around doing nothing.
"Okay." Cat Noir said with a smile.
He immediately opened a window, snagged Marinette's hand, and then jumped down into the warzone. The pair faced down Fashionista and Marinette hid behind Cat Noir for the moment.
"There you are, my pretty little model!" Fashionista said, as soon as she saw Marinette. She lifted her needle and it started to glow. Cat Noir took up his baton and tried his beset to defend the designer.
Marinette asked, "Are your claws sharp enough to tear into fabric?"
"Not sure, but I can try. If they are, that can be helpful." Cat Noir said, as he kept knocking away fabrics, beads, needles, laces, threads, and more from Fashionista's needle.
Marinette then had an idea come to her and she said, "Try avoid using Cataclysm for the moment! I have an idea!"
Marinette herself looked around to see what she could use to fight with. She saw several random items and started throwing them at Fashionista. If hitting the villain in the head to distract her was the plan, it was working.
Cat Noir started jumping against and off the walls to confuse the akumatized fashion designer. She kept firing different fabrics, and then Marinette noticed that somehow the water pipes in the walls had broken and were leaking out of the walls. As the water sprinkled onto the strewn clothes, she saw that some of them were shrinking. She also noticed that one of the fabrics that Fashionista fired was stopped in its tracks once it got wet. Marinette also saw that right above Fashionista were the sprinklers in case of fires. She then had an epiphany.
"She's firing out silk, cashmere, and other dry-clean only fabrics! Destroy the sprinkler system!" Marinette shouted.
"Got it!" Cat Noir shouted, before bouncing off the wall, back onto the floor, and then jumped up. "Cataclysm!"
Filling his right hand with bad luck energy, he slammed it against the main sprinkler. They rusted away and then all of the water in the pipes started leaking out.
Now all of the fabrics that Fashionista was firing out were falling to the floor, soaking wet and unable to move.
'Wow, Marinette certainly knows what she's doing. It's almost as if Ladybug were here.' Cat Noir thought, as he realized how clever Marinette was.
As Fashionista was struggling to fight back, Marinette bolted out the door to the building and ducked behind an alley a few meters away. Making sure no one was watching, Marinette let Tikki out of her purse.
"Nice work, Marinette! You were able to help Cat Noir without transforming!" Tikki praised.
"Thanks, but right now we have more work to do! Cat Noir needs Ladybug!" Marinette said. "Tikki, Spots On!"
After a few more minutes of fighting off the soaking wet fashion designer, Cat Noir was thinking, 'What's taking Ladybug so long?! And did Marinette manage to get away?'
As Fashionista was about to fire a fabric that was not overly-sensitive to water, her forearm was bound by a familiar yo-yo string and then it was pulled away.
"Sorry I'm late, kitty!" Ladybug said, jumping down and keeping the akuma from fighting back. "I see you've gotten a head-start."
"Yeah, one of the contestants, Marinette, helped me out." Cat Noir said.
"Good. I ran into her and she's safe," Ladybug said. "Now let's get rid of that akuma!"
"Marinette said it might be in the sewing needle." Cat Noir said, as he dodged some velvet.
"She might have the right idea! Lucky Charm!" Ladybug shouted, as she shot her yo-yo into the air. Out of thin air and into her hands landed...
"A wedding dress?" Ladybug said, surprised at seeing a red and black-spotted dress land.
"Thinking that we should tie the knot, m'lady?" Cat Noir teased.
"No..." Ladybug said, as she held the dress up.
Fashionista saw the dress, and she screamed out, "Bad enough I had to see the audacity that was a black wedding dress, but red and black spots?! This is a disaster!"
She dropped the needle and ran for the dress. Ladybug tossed the dress in Fashionista's direction and then she ran for the needle. She broke it by picking up the needle and snapping it in half.
The akuma flew out and then Ladybug got to work.
"No more evildoing for you, little akuma! Time to de-evilize!" Ladybug declared, as she snagged the akuma with her yo-yo. "Gotcha!"
She then let the white butterfly out of her yo-yo, and then took the wedding dress and threw it into the air, shouting, "Miraculous Ladybug!"
A wave of ladybugs flew over the Grand Palais and then everything was reset. The sprinklers were back to normal, and everyone's stations were reset.
"Pound it!" The pair of heroes said, as they bumped fists. Fashionista was turned back to normal, and she was lying on the floor, exhausted.
Cat Noir was looking at Ladybug, and noticed some similarities to Marinette.
"Um... Why are you staring at me?" Ladybug asked.
"M'lady... Are you..." Cat Noir began, but then his ring beeped. "Um, this cat's gotta scat!"
Cat Noir used his baton and flew out of the window of the building. Meanwhile, Ladybug ran into a closet to change back.
A few hours later, the competition was back on track. Amélie had dropped out of the competition due to her dress being ruined. Otherwise, everything else was going off without a hitch.
Marinette had finished up her entry and the judges were already finishing up their evaluations. On the floor of the competition, where the spectators were walking around, Adrien was standing in front of Marinette's station.
'The resemblance between Marinette and Ladybug is uncanny, and they're a lot alike in situations like that...' Adrien thought, as he watched Marinette closely.
Once the judges had finished their deliberations and their judging, they were up at the winners' circle for the announcements.
Marinette waited patiently as the judges announced who won the Professional, Amateur and Youth categories. The Teen section was next, and Marinette was nervous.
Adrien noticed her anxiety and said, "You'll be fine, Marinette."
Marinette smiled as she received this vote of confidence from Adrien.
"Now, for the Youth Category..." The head judge said, as he announced the second and third place winners.
Gabriel Agreste had face-timed through his iPaid and Nathalie again, like he did with the derby hat contest back at the school, so he could talk to the judges about who won the contest.
"For First Place, I am pleased to announce that the winner is entry #2911 - Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Gabriel said.
Hearing her name, Marinette jumped for joy as she ran up to the stage. The head judge gave her the trophy for the contest. She started crying tears of joy. Adrien, down in the audience, was applauding Marinette's success at winning her category of the competition.
"I am expecting great things from you in the future, Miss Marinette." Gabriel said.
"I will, Mr. Agreste." Marinette said, as she stood proud and held the trophy up for the audience to see.
Now... I hate to say this to my fans, but I don't think I'll be continuing with this story.
With the future water akuma and water modes, I feel that Siren will be unnecessary and I've been having more fun writing romance multi-chapter stories and one-shots for this fandom instead. Coming up with akumas is hard, this story doesn't really do it for me anymore, and with the introduction of Luka, I'm certain that fans are going crazy over him and I want to write more Adrienette VS. Lukanette material.
This story will still be up, but updates are unlikely to continue if at all. So... I'm sorry, but this could very well be the final chapter of this story.